A man has been stabbed to death and another person injured at a Scientology centre in Sydney while attempting to stop a teenager who was trying to force his way in to see his mother, according to reports.
The 16-year-old boy was apprehended by police at the religious order’s sprawling Australian headquarters in the northern suburb of Chatswood on Thursday. He is believed to have attacked the two church members as they attempted to remove him from the 145,300-sq-ft compound.
The teen had reportedly been involved in a “domestic” altercation on the premises the previous day.
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A 24-year-old man from Taiwan, described by the Church as a “beloved” member, died after being stabbed in the neck. A 30-year-old church member also sustained lacerations to his hands.
The teenage assailant, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was “led away by police with his cuffed hands inside evidence bags”, says The Sydney Morning Herald.
He has undergone a mental health assessment, and is expected to be charged.
The newspaper reports that the boy had been “trying to visit his mother who was undergoing a so-called purification ceremony” at the centre.
The Church of Scientology describes purification as a detoxification programme that “enables an individual to rid himself of the harmful effects of drugs, toxins and other chemicals that lodge in the body and create a biochemical barrier to spiritual well-being”.
The Church’s controversial practices have been the subject of numerous books and documentaries.
A former Scientologist told 9News that “Taiwanese members attract a significant amount of money to the religion”, and clamed the church would be in “total damage control”.
“It will be all about how they can spin this so that Scientology comes out, maybe not smelling like roses, but with the least amount of stink attached to it,” said ex-believer Paul Schofield.