Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 105
Their suit seeks to stop the website‘s commentary on ESP and $9.7 million in compensatory
and punitive damages. Ross‘s defense is based on constitutional free speech guarantees.
(Dennis Yusko, Times Union, Internet, 9/9/03)
One Love Family
Nigerian Group in Britain
The Lagos, Nigeria-based One Love Family of Satguru Maharajji, a 55-year-old Nigerian
who has adopted the look of an Indian holy man, is being investigated after a follower said
the group practices child sacrifice. Joyce Osagiede, who says that she and her husband had
established British branches of the group, contends the headless torso found recently in the
Thames was one such victim, and that her husband has committed a number of ―black
magic killings of followers‘ children. She has since denied the black magic charges, saying
she made them up to gain asylum in Britain. Sam Osagiede is now in a Dubin jail contesting
extradition to Germany on charges of ―human trafficking.‖
A former devotee says that Maharajji, acquitted in 2000 of murdering a Ghanaian who had
accused him of holding his sister against her will, said five people have died in One Love
Family initiation rites. Generally, he said, the heart, liver, and kidneys are removed from the
dead and made into a drink taken during initiations. Ritual killings to ensure good fortune
are said to be common in parts of Nigeria, and the body found in the river is allegedly the
product of the human traffickers‘ wish for luck in their endeavors.
An Elder from Benin City, Nigeria, the One Love Family headquarters, said: ―Ritual killings
have nothing to do with our religion or beliefs. They are about greed and power.‖ (The
Telegraph, London, Internet, 8/31/03)
Pana Wave Laboratory
Raid Over Beating Death Tax Investigation
Police raided the Pana Wave Laboratory headquarters in Fukui, Japan, after finding
bruises on the back of a recently deceased member. They suspect that Satoshi Chigusa, 40,
an assistant professor of education at Fukuoka University, died during a group ritual that
involves beating one another with sticks in order to protect leader Yuko Chino, and
themselves, from electromagnetic waves. (Kyodo News in Japan Today, Internet, 8/10/03)
Police have asked the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau to investigate the suspicion that
Pana Wave has failed to report income from member donations to an affiliate. (Yomiuri
Shimbun, Internet, 8/12/03)
Polygamy
Convicted for Sex with Underage Wife
Rodney Holm, a police officer in the bordering polygamous towns of Holldale, UT and
Colorado City, AZ, has been convicted of having sex with then 16-year-old ―spiritual wife‖
Ruth Stubbs, and now faces a potentially long prison term.
Holm has 21 children with three wives. Most of the people in the two communities he serves
are members of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. (Debbie Hummel, AP, Internet, 8/15/03)
States Plan "Justice Courts" for Polygamous Towns
Arizona and Utah, as part of a campaign against abuses in polygamous communities, plan
to set up a justice court where sheriff‘s officers from both states would hear complaints of
welfare fraud, forced marriages, and child and sexual abuse. The anti-polygamy
Their suit seeks to stop the website‘s commentary on ESP and $9.7 million in compensatory
and punitive damages. Ross‘s defense is based on constitutional free speech guarantees.
(Dennis Yusko, Times Union, Internet, 9/9/03)
One Love Family
Nigerian Group in Britain
The Lagos, Nigeria-based One Love Family of Satguru Maharajji, a 55-year-old Nigerian
who has adopted the look of an Indian holy man, is being investigated after a follower said
the group practices child sacrifice. Joyce Osagiede, who says that she and her husband had
established British branches of the group, contends the headless torso found recently in the
Thames was one such victim, and that her husband has committed a number of ―black
magic killings of followers‘ children. She has since denied the black magic charges, saying
she made them up to gain asylum in Britain. Sam Osagiede is now in a Dubin jail contesting
extradition to Germany on charges of ―human trafficking.‖
A former devotee says that Maharajji, acquitted in 2000 of murdering a Ghanaian who had
accused him of holding his sister against her will, said five people have died in One Love
Family initiation rites. Generally, he said, the heart, liver, and kidneys are removed from the
dead and made into a drink taken during initiations. Ritual killings to ensure good fortune
are said to be common in parts of Nigeria, and the body found in the river is allegedly the
product of the human traffickers‘ wish for luck in their endeavors.
An Elder from Benin City, Nigeria, the One Love Family headquarters, said: ―Ritual killings
have nothing to do with our religion or beliefs. They are about greed and power.‖ (The
Telegraph, London, Internet, 8/31/03)
Pana Wave Laboratory
Raid Over Beating Death Tax Investigation
Police raided the Pana Wave Laboratory headquarters in Fukui, Japan, after finding
bruises on the back of a recently deceased member. They suspect that Satoshi Chigusa, 40,
an assistant professor of education at Fukuoka University, died during a group ritual that
involves beating one another with sticks in order to protect leader Yuko Chino, and
themselves, from electromagnetic waves. (Kyodo News in Japan Today, Internet, 8/10/03)
Police have asked the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau to investigate the suspicion that
Pana Wave has failed to report income from member donations to an affiliate. (Yomiuri
Shimbun, Internet, 8/12/03)
Polygamy
Convicted for Sex with Underage Wife
Rodney Holm, a police officer in the bordering polygamous towns of Holldale, UT and
Colorado City, AZ, has been convicted of having sex with then 16-year-old ―spiritual wife‖
Ruth Stubbs, and now faces a potentially long prison term.
Holm has 21 children with three wives. Most of the people in the two communities he serves
are members of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. (Debbie Hummel, AP, Internet, 8/15/03)
States Plan "Justice Courts" for Polygamous Towns
Arizona and Utah, as part of a campaign against abuses in polygamous communities, plan
to set up a justice court where sheriff‘s officers from both states would hear complaints of
welfare fraud, forced marriages, and child and sexual abuse. The anti-polygamy
