A group helping victims of the Unification Church said Thursday that the number of consultations it received in July jumped 12 times more than the previous month, following the killing of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
A majority of the 94 consultations came from families of believers asking how their kin could leave the church, according to the group, while other cases concerned financial issues, with one saying a family member had contributed ¥500 million ($3.73 million) or more to the church.
Surging consultations were also reported by the National Network of Lawyers against Spiritual Sales, which was established in 1987 to help victims of so-called spiritual sales, in which people were talked into buying jars and other items for exorbitant prices.