Daughter of controversial cult head to take his ashes

Tokyo: The youngest daughter of Shoko Asahara, the executed head of the Aum Shinrikyo cult behind a deadly 1995 sarin attack, has agreed to collect his cremated remains, she said.

Her statement yesterday came after reports of a battle between other members of Ashara’s family, including his wife, for his remains.

His wife and several other children remain in an Aum successor cult.

His youngest daughter, whose name has not been made public, is the only one of Asahara’s children to break with the successor group.

“I was surprised, but I have decided to accept his will as my father’s last message,” she said in a statement posted on her lawyer’s blog.

She urged her relatives and his followers to accept the decision and called on cult members to “put an end to the Aum and stop hating society”.

The Jiji news agency said the remains of Asahara, 63, would stay at the detention centre where he was executed for now due to fears that his daughter could be assaulted by his followers if she came to get them.

The near-blind leader, whose real name was Chizuru Matsumoto, was executed on Friday for his role in the 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway and other crimes.

The subway attack killed 13 people and injured thousands.