Japanese police said yesterday they had discovered the badly decomposed bodies of five siblings whose uncle ordered them to starve to death in a bizarre religious rite.
The find, at a house in the western city of Osaka, marks the latest in a series of horrific cases involving strange cults and deranged youths which has shocked Japan.
Police discovered the bodies, lying side by side on futons, late on Wednesday following a call by a relative concerned at the behaviour of the family headed by the uncle, Mr Takao Wakasa (66).
Officers had to barge past Mr Wakasa and his sister Akiko (66), who refused them entry because they were engaged in some form of Buddhist religious training, the official said.
"We immediately knew from the strong odour that somebody must be dead. The stench was unbelievable given there was no air conditioner in the house."
All five dead were Akiko's children, identified as 41-year-old Suiko Wakasa, her sisters Kaoru (38), Eiko (29), Hiromi (28) and Akiko's 27-year-old son, Minoru.
They had not eaten anything for a month before mid-July when they died, officials quoted Akiko as telling investigators.
Both the elderly brother and sister are being treated in hospital for severe emaciation. At the very least they face charges of failing properly to dispose of a body, said Mr Masateru Yamasaki, a deputy superintendent at the local Sennan police station.
"But we cannot continue with questioning for the time being as Wakasa and his sister need to be hospitalised for more than a week," he said.