Nara Prefectural Police on Tuesday arrested seven people ¡ª including a man who described himself as a ¡°messenger of God¡± ¡ª on suspicion of confining a company executive¡¯s teenage son to a relative¡¯s house in Yokohama.
According to police, Yu Murakami, a 46-year-old company employee from Yokohama, has been referring to himself as an ¡°intermediary for messages from God.¡±
Police believe Murakami had Masaru Tatsumi ¡ª a 46-year-old company executive from the city of Yamatotakada, Nara Prefecture ¡ª and Tatsumi¡¯s family under his psychological control.
Relatives and family members of Murakami and Tatsumi were also arrested.
The seven allegedly confined Tatsumi¡¯s son to the relative¡¯s house between May 6 and 8, by taking away his wallet and smartphone and leaving him naked to prevent him from running away.
Police said the parents admired Murakami as they managed to recover their construction business thanks to his advice, and they said they had been letting the son live and work at a restaurant connected to Murakami as a way to rehabilitate what they described as his delinquent behavior, Kansai Television reported.
The son told police he had been forced to work for Murakami for next to nothing since around March last year after he graduated from high school, the local Nara Shimbun newspaper reported, citing police.
The son ran away at the end of last year and went to stay at an acquaintance¡¯s house in Nara Prefecture but was discovered and then brought to Yokohama in early May where he was?confined?under the orders of Murakami, police said.
The case came to light after the son was brought back from Yokohama to his parent¡¯s house in Nara, whereupon he fled again, and his acquaintance reported the case to police, Kansai Television said.
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