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September 28, 2016

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Mentuhui members jailed over deaths

Source: Xinhua | September 28, 2016, Wednesday | Print Edition

SEVERAL Mentuhui members have been jailed for organizing a cult and causing deaths, according to the central leading group for the prevention and handling of cult-related activities yesterday.

The Mentuhui had spread pseudoscience and evil thoughts under the guise of Christianity, the leading group said.

Classified as a cult by the Chinese government in the 1990s, the Mentuhui also illegally collected money, it said.

Yao Xiangzhi, 35, was sentenced to three years in prison for causing the death of a cult member surnamed Xu, who suffered from schizophrenia. In June last year, Xu was denied freedom as well as food and drink for a week, while other cult members in Jianli, a county in central China’s Hubei Province, prayed for his recovery.

The cult accumulated more than 40 million yuan (US$6 million) between 2011 and 2014 through donations and businesses including supermarkets, according to Yu Shaochao, deputy police chief of Yunxi, another county in Hubei.

The cult never deposited money in banks but kept cash in the hands of its leaders, who often took the money for their personal use, said Yu.

“The Mentuhui is an evil cult that has distorted the Bible and cheated the public,” said Xu Tao, a scholar in religion at Wuhan University.

Xu said the government should let religious people play a role in fighting cults, as they can help wipe them out at an early stage.

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