Thrissur: A Christian cult based at Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district is in the news again for wrong reasons. A man who had cut ties with the Emperor Emmanuel Church came under a mob attack on Friday. Eleven women, who are followers of the cult, were taken into custody and remanded.

Aloor Police have booked the women with charges including attempt to murder.

The mob attack happened before a retreat centre at Muriyad in Irinjalakuda. The women had ganged up and assaulted a man named Shaji who had parted ways with the Church. The women were arrested soon after the visuals of the assault surfaced.

The incident happened at Kapparakkadavu area Muriyad.

Shaji had cut ties with the Zion retreat centre under the Emperor Emmanuel Church. When Shaji and his family passed by in a car, the women blocked the vehicle, dragged Shaji out and assaulted him. They also damaged the car’s windshield.

In his statement to the police Shaji said about 50 persons assaulted him.

The women, however, claimed that they assaulted him as he had morphed and circulated pictures. Both Shaji and the assailants sought treatment at hospitals.

Differences of opinion between the believers and those who cut ties with the Church had taken an ugly turn earlier also. In 2021 Olympian Mayookha Johny had alleged her friend was raped by a member of the same Church. The accused and his friends had claimed that the rape charges were false and was a result of a dispute in the church.

Following the latest incident, Thrissur Police warned that stringent action would be taken if the dispute turns out to be a law and order issue.