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The latest news, analysis and opinion on Cults. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
The logo of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, known as the Unification Church, is seen at the entrance of the Japanese branch’s headquarters in Tokyo. Photo: AFP
Japan

Court orders dissolution of Unification Church in Japan after Abe killing probe

The man accused of killing former PM Shinzo Abe resented the South Korea-based sect, which had decades of cosy ties to Japan’s ruling party.

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Japan

30 years on, Tokyo sarin attack victims seek justice against Aum cult offshoots

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Japan

Controversial ‘Moonies’ Unification Church may be dissolved in Japan

Australia

Australia jails 14 sect members over ‘slow and painful’ death of girl, 8

The girl’s mother and father, the leader and other members of the home-based church were jailed for manslaughter.

Elizabeth Struhs, 8, died after her parents withheld insulin. Photo: Handout
Thailand

Video | Black magic cult corpse rituals investigated in Thailand

Officers raided the encampment on November 20, following reports that devotees were “meditating with corpses” to learn clairvoyance.

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Malaysia

Malaysia’s religious authority accuses firm in child abuse probe of slavery

GISB has long been controversial for its ties to the Al-Arqam sect that is banned in Malaysia for deviant teachings and cultlike activities.

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Fame and celebrity

8 Hollywood stars who have been in cults, from Joaquin Phoenix to Glenn Close

Joaquin and River Phoenix were both in the Children of God cult, which encouraged child abuse, while David and Patricia Arquette’s parents started a controversial ‘spiritual movement’.

A surprising number of Hollywood stars survived cults, including Glenn Close, Joaquin Phoenix and Patricia Arquette. Photos: Reuters, Invision/AP, BFA.com
Malaysia

22 people from Malaysian cult group linked to child sex abuse to fight charges

All of the accused have pleaded not guilty to charges of being members of an organised crime group.

Crime

A short history of Asia’s fascination with cults and their dark secrets

Delve into chilling tales of followers lured by false promises of salvation – and the cult leaders who preyed on their vulnerabilities.

Malaysia

GISB and the horrific reality behind Malaysia’s worst child sex abuse scandal

The GISB scandal reveals a harrowing tale of exploitation, as former members recount a legacy of abuse hidden behind a facade of faith.

More than 500 children have been rescued from care homes linked to GISB in Malaysia. Photo: Facebook/GISB
Malaysia

My Take | Malaysia owes it to young victims of cult-linked group to start healing process

The authorities have said little about the steps they will take to help the more than 550 children recover from their trauma.

The headquarters of Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings in Rawang, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: AFP
Malaysia

Members of firm in Malaysia child sex abuse case had multiple wives: police

Some members have four wives and 34 children, with many of them living in care homes where the alleged abuse took place, police chief says.

Malaysia

Malaysian police arrest CEO of company accused in child sex abuse scandal

The CEO’s company allegedly ran the welfare homes from which authorities rescued over 400 children last week.

Malaysia

Islamic sect-linked company denies sex abuse of Malaysian minors

Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings says parties with an ‘agenda to bring down the image’ of its business are behind the claims.

Malaysian police on Wednesday said they rescued 402 boys and girls, aged between one and 17, after they received reports of abuse involving the group that operated the shelters. Photo: Shutterstock
Africa

Kenya’s starvation cult leader goes on trial for manslaughter over mass deaths

The grisly case led the government to flag the need for tighter control of fringe denominations, while questions have been raised about how Mackenzie evaded law enforcement despite a history of extremism.

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Paul Mackenzie, a Kenyan cult leader accused of ordering his followers to starve themselves to death in Shakahola forest, is escorted to the law courts in Malindi. Photo: Reuters
Africa

Kenyan cult leader on trial for terrorism as 400 starved to death to ‘meet Jesus’

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, who was arrested in April last year, is alleged to have incited his acolytes to starve to death to “meet Jesus”.

Japan

2 years after Abe’s shooting, ‘second-generation’ church members struggling

Second-generation Unification Church members are still struggling with the impact of being born into a family of avid followers, such as being denied access to higher education or employment.

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Africa

Families shed tears of relief as first Kenya cult massacre bodies released

DNA identification has been slow, with just 34 of the 429 bodies exhumed between April and October last year positively identified through DNA profiling.

Women belonging to the same family hold each other as they mourn after receiving the remains of several other family members who were victims of a Kenyan starvation cult, at a private mortuary in Malindi. Photo: AFP
Africa

Kenya cult leader charged with murdering 191 kids in Shakahola forest massacre

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie was arrested in April 2023 after bodies were found in the Shakahola forest. Autopsies revealed most of the 429 victims died of hunger.

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Thailand

Thailand hosts UFO music festival in city that sect claims is ‘Area 51 of Asia’

In central Thailand, where a Buddhist UFO sect claims it has been speaking to aliens for two decades, believers are flocking to the ‘first UFO music festival in Asia’.

Netflix

Where are Jeff and Shaleia Divine, the couple behind Twin Flames Universe?

Their ‘love cult’ features in Netflix docuseries Escaping Twin Flames – so what are the allegations, did they ever get charged, and where are they now?

Jeff and Shaleia Ayan, now known as Jeff and Shaleia Divine, are founders of Twin Flame Universe, now featured in Netflix’s Escaping Twin Flames. Photo: @shaleiadivine/Instagram
South Korea

South Korean church’s practices in spotlight as Fiji steps up crackdown

Grace Road Church has been accused of being a cult and its leaders charged with abuse, but its companies have also had a major impact on Fiji’s economy.

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A Grace Road Group restaurant in the upmarket Damodar City shopping mall in Suva, with posters of its hashtag campaign posted everywhere. Photo: Kalinga Seneviratne
Shinzo Abe

The true power of the cult caught up in Shinzo Abe’s assassination

The Unification Church – a cult linked to the motives of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s alleged assassin – has long wielded influence in Japan’s politics and society. Now it could be dissolved.

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Japan

Unification Church accuses Japan of ‘bias’, vows to fight as disbandment looms

If the court grants the request, the church will no longer be a religious corporation and be deprived of tax benefits, but will not be required to stop operating.

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South Korea

South Korean ‘cult’ members to be deported by Fiji after ‘torture’ allegations

Top members of the “Grace Road Cult” from South Korea will be deported from Fiji following years of allegations of the movement’s involvement in bizarre and violent rituals.

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Shin Ok-ju, the founder of Grace Road Church, was sentenced to six years’ jail by South Korean authorities in 2019 on various criminal charges. Photo: New York Daily News
Japan

Japan mulls dissolving Unification Church following scandal

A request for it to disband could be filed with the court as soon as October, and comes after an investigation of the church regarding alleged illegal donations and ‘spiritual sales’.

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Couples from the Unification Church attend a mass wedding ceremony. Photo: AFP
Crime

Doomsday cult mum sentenced to life for murdering children and romantic rival

Lori Vallow, who claimed to be a goddess charged with preparing humanity for the second coming of Jesus, was found guilty in May over the deaths of her daughter, 16, and adopted son, 7. The murders became the subject of a Netflix true-crime series.

Africa

Death toll in Kenya starvation cult exceeds 200 as authorities unearth 22 more bodies

Police believe most of the bodies found in a forest near the Indian Ocean town of Malindi belong to followers of taxi driver-turned-preacher Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, who is accused of inciting people to starve to death ‘to meet Jesus’.

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