A cult leader was being hunted today over the horrific ritual killing of his three-week-old baby as four of his followers appeared in court – including the child’s mother.
The child’s mother Natalie Guerra, centre, hides her face in a coat as she arrives for the tribunal in Quilpe, Chile, with sect members Carla Frachy behind, and Maria del Pilar Alvarez concealed by her jumper in front
Natalie Guerra, 25, hid her face in a coat as she attended a hearing into the killing of her daughter who was burned alive on a bonfire.
She put a hand over her mouth as she sat alongside sect members Carla Franchy, Maria del Pilar Alvarez and David Pastene during the tribunal in Quilpe, 70 miles west of Santiago.
Guerra is said to have told police: ‘I was devastated but (sect members) told me that it had to be — that it was my karma.’
The four arrested suspects from left, Maria del Pilar Alvarez, Carla Franchy, Natalia Guerra and David Pastene, below
Cult chief Ramon Gustavo Castillo Gaete, 36, who sacrificed the baby because he believed she was was the antichrist and the end of the world was near, has been on the run for weeks.
Police said he was last seen travelling to Peru to buy ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic brew plant that he used to control his 12-member sect.
Authorities revealed the baby was burned alive on November 23 at a farm outside the town of Quilpe.
Wanted fugitives: Cult leader Ramon Gustavo Castillo Gaete, Josefina Isabel Lopez Nunez, Pablo Undurraga Atria, and Carolina Alejandra Vargas San Martin
‘We found bones that correspond’ to those of an infant, said Miguel Ampuero, of the Police investigative Unit, Chile’s equivalent of the FBI.
‘The baby was naked.They strapped tape around her mouth to keep her from screaming. Then they placed her on a board.
‘After calling on the spirits they threw her on the bonfire alive.’
Chilean police collect dirt samples at the farm used by the sect who reportedly burned a baby alive
In an interview with 24 Horas, the officer said that none of the suspects – including the mother – had shown any remorse for what happened, believing the sacrifice ‘saved the world.’
The sect was formed in 2005 and is made up of professional workers.
Ampuero added: ‘ We have someone who was a veterinarian and who worked as a flight attendant, we have a filmmaker, a draftsman. Everyone has a university degree.’