Four members of a Chilean cult were arrested yesterday for allegedly participating in the ritual sacrifice of a three-day-old baby.
According to local investigators, the cult's leader, 36-year-old Ramón Gustavo Castillo Gaete, ordered his followers to burn the baby alive because he believed it to be the Antichrist and a harbinger of doomsday.
"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," investigator Miguel Ampuero is quoted as saying.
The "healing ritual," which reportedly took place last November in the town of Colliguay, was attended by the baby's mother, 25-year-old Natalia Guerra, who allegedly gave the sacrifice her blessing.
Castillo Gaete is rumored to be the baby's father.
The cult is said to have 12 members in all, and was founded in 2005 by Castillo Gaete, who calls himself "Antares from the Light."
Police are still searching for Castillo Gaete, who was last seen in February on his way to Peru to purchase a hallucinogenic brew used as part of the cult's rituals and possibly start a new sect.
[H/T: The Raw Story via Christian Nightmares, photos via AP]