Terminally ill Taiwan mum loses US$420,000 to scammers after selling home for ‘spiritual’ course
Cancer-stricken mum and son pressured into ‘cult’ which preached redemption through forced same-sex marriages, toe-licking, humiliation
A terminally ill, cancer-stricken mother in Taiwan was coerced into a so-called spiritual growth cult, which eventually cost her family more than NT$13 million (US$420,000).
The sick woman was subjected to various forms of public punishment, such as being forced to kneel by a roadside. She was even forced into a same-sex marriage.
Her ordeal began in August 2013, when the mother, surnamed Wang, who was suffering from terminal cancer, joined a “spiritual growth course” run by two women surnamed Zhang and Chen. Her son joined later, in April 2021.
Under the guise of “spiritual development”, participants were subjected to a wide range of abusive practices, including being forced to humiliate each other, kneel on roadsides, and even lick other people’s toes.
In one of the most bizarre incidents, both Wang and her son were coerced into same-sex marriages in 2021 and then forced to divorce their respective partners the following year.
One female participant even recalled being beaten until she agreed to divorce her husband and was then immediately forced to marry Wang.
To ensure compliance, the cult leaders warned the mother that if she failed to attend classes consistently and follow instructions, she would “die horribly”.