Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Buddhist institutions and contexts Buddhist institutions and lineages Zhuhai, Guangdong, China · 2015

China: 'Huazang Dharma' leader given life imprisonment — a conviction rights groups call retaliation

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

self-styled dharma master and leader of the Huazang Dharma community

Organization

Huazang Dharma

Spiritual nexus

As charged, the assaults ran on his claimed dharma-master status over disciples — but this record does not pretend the charge is uncontested.

  • Guru or spiritual-teacher authority
  • Sacred sex, purity, or sexual-energy claim

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2015-10-30 · first-instance conviction; appellate outcome unverified

    Zhuhai Intermediate People's Court, Guangdong, China. On 30 October 2015 the Zhuhai Intermediate People's Court convicted Wu Zeheng of rape (life imprisonment), fraud (fourteen years), organising and using a cult to undermine law (twelve years) and producing or selling harmful food (six years), combining to life imprisonment with a 7.15 million yuan fine; three followers received terms of up to four years. Prosecutors alleged he told female followers that sex with him conferred spiritual attainment. He announced an appeal; no appellate ruling has been located.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • alleged teaching that sex with him conferred spiritual attainment on female disciples

Primary record

Sources

national broadcaster court reporting verdict and sentencing report NBC News: 'China sentences cult leader Wu Zeheng to life in prison'.

International report of the sentence.

advocacy context dispute statement Chinese Human Rights Defenders: statement contesting the conviction.

The principal contesting account, cited so the dispute is part of the record.

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