Two cult members admit to homicide
( 2002-08-26 07:59 ) (8 )

Two obsessed female Falun Gong practitioners have admitted killing a maid in a hostel in northwest China in a move they described as releasing her soul from purgatory, according to police.

Police in Xianyang city in Shaanxi Province were told about 11 a.m. on March 1 that Mai Xinping, a maid at Hongbin Hostel, had been strangled in a hostel room.

When they went to the hostel south of a coach station on Xilan Road, the police discovered the maid on a bed in Room 210 apparently strangled with a nylon rope.

There were marks on her body to indicate a struggle, according to their report.

The police later concluded two women from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region who left Room 210 at about 11 a.m. that day werethe most likely suspects.

From one of the women's ID code the hostel recorded when she checked in, police learned from their counterparts in Xinjiang she was Lin Chunmei, an obsessed Falun Gong practitioner.

Police did not locate the other woman named Wen Yuping, another obsessed Falun Gong practitioner, until July.

The two women have been arrested by police and confessed they killed the maid to help the victim "enjoy happiness in heaven".

In an interview with Xinhua, the two women who are in police custody said what they had done was "a good thing", and they committed the murder simply to release souls from purgatory.

They also gave the police details of the killing.

They claimed they could talk with their Falun Gong leader, Li Hongzhi, through "voice induction" without meeting face to face.

During their "talks" with Li Hongzhi, they said, Li agreed withtheir plan to release souls from purgatory, adding they would do something very great in the future, or kill "evil people".

"All those who condemn Falun Gong and Li Hongzhi, and sabotagethe Falun Gong are evil people," they said.

Lin Chunmei, 38, who used to be a staff member of the Construction Bank in Xinjiang, began practising Falun Gong in 1998.

Wen Yuping, 42, was sentenced to three years imprisonment with a four-year stay in 2000 on a charge of theft after she was dismissed as a gas station cashier because of financial problems in 1997.

The two women frequently met after November 2001 to share theirexperiences in practising Falun Gong.

They both rushed to Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing beforeMarch 10, but failed to notice the bodily changes their leader Li Hongzhi had claimed would happen.

Police were still investigating the case, a spokesman said.

Under the influence of Falun Gong and Li Hongzhi, the cult's leader, several thousand people in China have committed suicide orkilled.

The Chinese government outlawed the cult in 1998.