The leader of a cult along with one of the group's senior members pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of abandonment resulting in the death of a 6-year-old boy, whose mummified body was found in Miyazaki in January.
Junichiro Higashi, 56, head of Kaeda Juku, and Akemi Togashi, 49, the sect's supervising accountant, denied responsibility for the boy's death during their first trial hearing before the Miyazaki District Court.
The defendants said the boy's mother was with him at the cult's facility in Miyazaki, adding that they therefore were not the ones legally responsible for his care. They also claimed they did not cause the boy's death.
Higashi and Togashi were given custody of the boy, who had a kidney disease, in late December 1997 by the child's parents. The parents asked the pair to cure their son, according to the indictment.