EXCLUSIVE: Aum Guru’s Body May Be Handed Over to 4th Daughter

July 8, 2018

Tokyo- The Justice Ministry is considering handing over the body of Aum Shinrikyo founder Chizuo Matsumoto to his fourth daughter in line with a will he left before his execution Friday, Jiji Press learned Saturday.

It is unclear whether the daughter, 29, is willing to collect the body of Matsumoto, alias Shoko Asahara. She has publicly declared her intention not to be involved in the doomsday cult's successor groups, and has effectively cut ties with her parents.

Last November, she held a press conference and announced that a family court had accepted her request to strip her parents of the right to inherit her property.

On Friday, she issued a statement that, as a person who knew Matsumoto, she is in the mood to mourn his death for now, even though his sins cannot be forgiven with just a single execution.

Other relatives on Saturday submitted a joint written request to Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa that his body be handed over to his wife, 59. They claimed it is impossible that Matsumoto designated any specific person to receive his body.

As the wife is believed to have ties with a successor cult group called Aleph, public security authorities are concerned that her acquisition of the former death-row inmate's body could encourage followers who wish to deify him. Jiji Press