2013 death
"A notorious cult leader known as
"Black Jesus" has been killed by villagers in Papua New Guinea, police say.
Steven Tari had been on the run since escaping from prison in the northern
town of Madang earlier this year.Tari had been serving a lengthy prison term after being convicted in 2010 of raping girls.... Provincial police chief Sylvester Kalaut said Tari and one of his followers were attacking a woman, tricked into joining the cult, when villagers from Gal surrounded and killed them.
He had studied to become a Lutheran pastor but disappeared from his theological college after disputing the Bible's teachings.
He previously said he was the "true Christ" and promised his followers great wealth and redemption. Among his disciples were allegedly dozens of sex slaves he called his "flower girls". Before his arrest his sect had thousands of followers in the villages." BBC
Who?
Tari was pursued by PNG police in 2005 as a result of his teachings, which included promises of material goods and well-being for the villagers' worship. Under recent law, intended to combat the widespread occurrence of cults in the country, it is illegal to make such promises.
Tari was initially captured in 2005, but escaped prior to his trial with the help of a Lutheran pastor, Logan Sapus, who had been assigned to counsel him but became converted to Tari's cult instead. (Huh? How did that happen?.......) Tari ordered the destruction of rival Lutheran churches and terrorized nearby villages who would not submit to him. He is also accused of orchestrating the murders of rival Lutheran ministers." Wikipedia
2007 capture
"Steven Tari, 35, was caught and beaten by a group of angry villagers who handed him over to police.....Thousands gathered to shout abuse at Tari, ...who claims to be the True Christ, when he was brought to the police station in the town of Madang. Wearing only a loincloth instead of his usual flowing robes, he stood meekly before the crowd. "It was as if he thought he was being humiliated like Christ before he was crucified," said an onlooker.
But jungle communities were horrified to learn that Tari sacrificed three young women, drinking their blood and eating their flesh, as part of his bizarre ceremonies. In one case a mother who had fallen under his influence drank her daughter's blood, according to relatives.Tari was still in possession of what he called his "magic rod", a knife and a tattered Bible, many of whose teachings he had denied in his own sermons." YPMtRGA
For false Christs and false prophets shall rise,
Mark 13:22
