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| Corona virus: case against a 'responsible for death' religious leader in South Korea |
Investigations have been started against a South Korean religious leader for some deaths caused by the Corona virus.
The administration of Rajdhani Sol has asked to run a case against Li-Man-hee, the founder of Shincheonji Church and 11 others.
He is accused of hiding the names of some of the Corona victims from the authorities.
These officials were trying to track the affected before the virus spread in the city.
Outside China, South Korea is one of the worst affected countries of the Corona virus.
So far, 3730 cases of corona virus have been reported in the country and death of 21 people has been confirmed.
Half of these victims are members of a church run by a Christian group.
The corona virus spread
The administration says that the Corona virus spread among members of the Shincheonji Church in the southern city of Daegu last month, and then gradually began to affect other parts of the country.
A senior member, Kim Shin Chang, told BBC correspondent Laura Bicker that the church is 'deeply saddened by this matter'.
He admitted that church members were nervous about revealing their identity.
But they also say that now the church has shared information about all the victims. It also has information of all members and places.
He said, "We were avoiding giving this kind of information keeping in mind the safety of our members. But at the moment it seems that it is most important to cooperate fully with the government."
What is happening in South Korea?
On Sunday, the Sol administration has started legal action against 12 people of a community.
He has been charged with murder, harm and violating the Infectious Diseases and Control Act.
At present, statements of all 2,30,000 members of the church have been taken. Of these, around 9000 reported that they are showing symptoms of corona virus.
The church chief calls himself the Messiah
A 61-year-old female member of the church is among the first to be found positive with the corona virus.
She initially refused to be taken to the hospital, underwent a corona virus test and was also involved in many church programs. Later, when tested, she was found positive.
The head of the church, Lee Mana, calls himself the Messiah. He has also been tested for corona virus. His report has not come yet.
Currently all Roman Catholic churches are closed, groups descending for Sunday protests in the city defer this plan and all Buddhist programs are also canceled.
According to reports by BBC correspondent Laura Bicker, "The anger of the people is erupting as the special religious sect is responsible for the corona virus spreading in South Korea. People have started a petition to ban this church. So far Nearly 1.2 million have signed. "
Followers also in China and Japan
After the investigation began in the case, the city's mayor, Mark von Soon, asked the chief prosecutor to detain the leader of the sect.
However, the accusation does not mean that the murder of the church officials will be done immediately. Investigation will first start in this case and then the investigating officer will decide under which charges he should be prosecuted.
The head of the church, Lee Man, calls himself 'the incarnation of Jesus'. He founded the Shincheonji Church in the year 1984. In Korean language Shincheonji means 'new heaven and earth'.
Lee's followers believe that he will go to heaven with one lakh 44 thousand people with him.
The church says it has about 20,000 followers outside of South Korea. Among these countries are China, Japan and some countries of Southeast Asia.
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