adminPolice were yesterday still hunting for the alleged leader of the cult who is believed to have fled to Peru, after the baby’s mother and three other suspects were arrested on Friday.
The baby was burned alive on November 23 at a farm outside the city of Quilpe, some 110 kilometres west of Santiago.
Police reported on their Twitter account that one of the women wanted in connection with the doomsday killing surrendered early Saturday and was promptly jailed.
Her defence attorney claims that she was not present when the baby was killed and has asked that the woman be submitted to a psychiatric test.
Later in the day two other suspects, a man and a woman, also surrendered.
The search for the members of the cult, believed to number about 10, followed a four-month investigation after police were notified of the disappearance of a newborn that was never properly registered with authorities.
Police said alleged sect leader and the baby’s father, 36 year-old Gustavo Castillo Gaete, repeatedly slept with the five women in the group, whose members consumed ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic Andean brew.
When Castillo learned that one of the women was pregnant he locked her up during her pregnancy.
When the baby was born he asked to use it in a ritual supposedly destined to save the world ahead of the December 21, 2012 “Mayan apocalypse,” police said. — AFP.
Online Reporter