MURDER OF BELIEVERS: STUDY OF A PERSONALIZED CULT LEADER AT SARGODHA
Abstract
History reveals that cults exist in many religions. Cult leaders have great influence on social life of the followers. They obey such people to get spiritual guidance and a right path to live. The present study is on a spiritual cult leader who committed a mass murder of 20 people under the shadows of religion. He did not work for humanity but for self. The purpose of this study was to find out the actual causes behind this massacre. For this purpose, qualitative type of research was selected to explore the case. 15 respondents were selected through purposive sampling technique. In depth interview was used as research tool which gave a deep exploration of the case. This study comprised of his life history, particular events, his behavior with followers during his development and life course and finally the reasons of his act. The study revealed that followers had great reverence with their spiritual leader and they thought that he could purify them and make them successful in life. The people were so much inspired by his spiritualism and charismatic personality that they readily sacrificed their lives. The main causes were ignorance, blind faith of the people, lust for power and failure of Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs).
