Japanese prosecutors yesterday formally charged the guru of a bizarre cult with murdering a follower whose mummified body was found in a hotel room last year.

Prosecutors in Chiba prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, indicted Koji Takahashi, leader of a cult called "Life Space," in connection with the death of a 66-year-old follower, Japanese media said.

The mummified body of the follower was found in a hotel near Tokyo's Narita airport in November.

(China Daily 2000/03/15)