But Aum wasn’t the only cult in the headlines. A truly macabre scene greeted police at a house in Sukagawa, north of Tokyo. There they discovered six badly decomposed bodies lying on a futon – all adults apparently beaten to death. The prime suspect: Sachiko Eto, a 47-year-old, self-styled faith healer, who lived n the house with several other people. Eto has reportedly told authorities that she beat the victims repeatedly with drumsticks during a healing ritual aimed at “killing the dirty body and cleansing the soul.”
