China cracks down on religious cult

Prison terms have been handed down to several members of the Mentuhui (Disciples Sect) cult for organizing a cult and causing deaths, according to the central leading group for the prevention and handling of cult-related activities on Tuesday.

The Mentuhui cult with tens of thousands of followers has spread pseudoscience and evil thought under the guise of Christianity, according to the leading group.

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

Yao Xiangzhi, 35, a cult member, was sentenced for causing the death of a cult member surnamed Xu, who suffered from schizophrenia. Xu was denied freedom as well as food and drink for a week, while other cult members prayed for his recovery in June 2015 in Jianli County, central China's Hubei Province.

Yao, who only completed primary school, was sentenced to three years for organizing and taking advantage of a cult and causing death. She is currently serving her prison sentence in the provincial capital of Wuhan.

"It is a sham to treat any illness by praying to expel evil spirits," said a cult member surnamed Shi, who suffers from serious rheumatism.

The cult accumulated more than 40 million yuan (about six million U.S. dollars) between 2011 and 2014 through donations and businesses including supermarkets, according to Yu Shaochao, deputy police chief of Yunxi county, also Hubei Province.

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 religion scholar from Wuhan University.

Xu said the government should let religious people play a role in fighting cults, as they are most sensitive to various cults and can help wipe out them in the early stage. Endi