The Korea Herald

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Cult leader charged for encouraging followers to commit suicide

By Lim Jeong-yeo

Published : Dec. 14, 2017 - 14:10

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A cult leader and her follower were arrested and charged for encouraging others to commit suicide, the Uijeongbu District Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday.

According to the Yonhap News Agency‘s report on the incident, the cult leader, 63, and her follower, 43, had together branded the follower's parents as having been possessed with “evil dragon’s spirit.”

The two allegedly plotted and deserted the 83-year-old and the 77-year-old victims on the riverside of Bukhan River in Gapyeong County in Gyeonggi Province, so that they could “repent and return to God.”

(Yonhap) (Yonhap)


The cult leader is charged with convincing the old couple that they need to take their own lives through abuse of religious doctrine.

The victims were deserted on Nov. 11, around evening time.

The male victim was found the next day in the river, having taken his own life. The female victim has been missing for a month.

The daughter, who is the accomplice of the cult leader, had initially claimed to have no involvement in the death of her parents who went missing, but later retracted her words after CCTV footage revealed her driving them to the river.

The police are searching the area around the river hoping to find traces of the female victim.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)