Cult leader becomes first woman to be executed in Japan for 15 years after she was convicted murdering six people during 'exorcisms'

• Japan executed two people for murders during supposed exorcisms
• Sachiko Eto, 65, convicted of beating victims to drive out 'demons'
• Yukinori Matsuda, 39, convicted of killing two in a robbery in 2003
• Amnesty International fears new wave of executions in country

Japan executed two people Thursday, including a 65-year old female cult leader convicted of six murders that took place during supposed exorcisms.
The Justice Ministry said 65-year-old Sachiko Eto and 39-year-old Yukinori Matsuda were executed by hanging. Matsuda was convicted of killing two people during a robbery in 2003.
Eto turned to faith healing after she and her husband joined a cult, according to Japanese media reports.

Justice Ministry said 65-year-old Sachiko Eto and 39-year-old Yukinori Matsuda were executed by hanging at Tokyo Detention Centre

She and two accomplices, including her daughter, were convicted of beating their victims to drive out 'demons' and then hiding their bodies at her home.
During her trial, Eto's lawyers argued she had diminished responsibility as she was suffering mental problems at the time of the crimes. She pled not guilty, but a Japanese court upheld her sentence, ruling that her crimes were 'excessively grave'.
Eto's daughter and another cult member were sentenced to life in prison for the 1995 murders.
Japan is one of the few industrialized countries that have capital punishment. The lack of transparency in the system has been criticised by human rights groups, but capital punishment is generally supported by the public, according to opinion polls.

An execution room at the Tokyo Detention House in Tokyo. Japan is one of the few industrialised democracies to maintain the death penalty

Japan had no executions in 2011 but has conducted seven this year. The Justice Ministry says 131 convicts are on Japan's death row.
Amnesty International, which opposes the death penalty in all cases regardless of the nature of the crime, says the hangings have sparked fears of a new wave of executions.
Roseann Rife, Amnesty International's East Asia Director, said: 'The executions of Matsuda and Eto are acts of premeditated, cold-blooded killing by the Japanese state.'
Protests against the use of the death penalty are due to take place tonight outside the Ministry of Justice in Tokyo.
The human rights campaign group, which argues state death penalties violate the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, said it considers all individuals on death row in Japan to be at imminent risk of execution.
Roseann Rife added: 'The latest executions make a mockery of the Democratic Party of Japan's pledge to hold a national debate on abolishing the death penalty. That debate needs to happen and the government should impose an immediate moratorium on executions.'