Young mother Wu Ting, 35, was found, dead, in a pool of her own blood at a McDonald’s in Zhaoyuan, Shandong province, in China’s far east, on May 28th. The woman had been approached by a cult gang at the restaurant and was beaten to death after refusing to give them her telephone number. The chain restaurant’s location is directly across from a police station.

Zhaoyuan has traditionally been the breeding ground of many religious cults. The violent, anti-Christian Boxer movement, during the last years of the Qing dynasty in 1900, even came out of this area. Many were arrested after China had enacted a nationwide crackdown on the Falun Gong spiritual movement in 1999. This cult was banned under the country’s corporals in 1995. Their philosophy is based on a skewed reading of the Christian bible. 17 of the All-powerful spirit cult’s members were arrested for harassing people in a park about the end of the world in Beijing in December 2012.

After refusing to give out her number, the members smashed Wu Ting over the head with a mop. She was beaten so badly that the handle of the mop was broken. The cult members allegedly thought she was a “demon and an evil spirit”, after she rejected their efforts to recruit her.

The video footage of the appalling incident reveals that other people were around, but nobody stepped in. Shouts in the background are heard saying, “beat her to death”, while another says “call the police”. However, rather than intervening the surrounding people watched as she was beat by a male member of the cult. Once she was on the ground other members were egging him on.

Witnesses moved to watch from the window outside as the attack on Wu Ting proceeded. This failure to intervene has shocked and appalled much of the Chinese population.

As the beating continued, apparently five other group members joined in and kicked the woman in the head. Police revealed that four out of the six who attacked her were members of the same family. The members were Zhang Fu, 54, and his two daughters and son. Another two women were involved as well. The members were detained following the incident except for Fu’s son who is under China’s age of legal responsibility.

According to the Zhaoyuan police, the five suspects have also been charged with organizing and undermining law enforcement by means of the cult. This was determined after the police seized various books and materials from the suspects’ homes. This has led to the enforcement’s crackdown on illegal and criminal activities associated with cults.

Photo: mirror.co.uk