4 arrested for fatally beating woman in religious training ritual

Kyodo News/October 21, 2004

Tokyo -- Police on Thursday arrested four people on suspicion of causing the death of a 36-year-old woman by beating her in so-called religious training of a group linked to the Aum Shinrikyo cult, the police said.

The four include Yuko Kitazawa, 40, leader of the group called Keroyon, and Masataka Fujibayashi, 35, a former Aum member. They allegedly inflicted fatal injuries on the woman by beating her with a bamboo sword Sept 10 at an apartment in Tokyo's Nakano Ward, according to the police.