China executes sect leader

Beijing - China has executed the leader of a doomsday sect for allegations he raped 13 women followers and extorted 220,000 yuan (£18,000) from other followers, the People's Daily said yesterday. Mr Liu Jiaguo was executed recently after a court in the central Chinese province of Hunan condemned him for the rapes. The victims included two young girls and six unmarried women who were impregnated, it said. Mr Liu, head of the Zhu Shen Jiao (Supreme Spirit Sect), was also charged with extortion, sabotaging law enforcement, harming society and fraud.