LONDON (WKRC) – An alternative therapist has been found guilty of manslaughter after encouraging diabetics at his workshop to stop taking insulin.
Hongqi Hsiao, a 61-year-old alternative healer, was found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter in a London court and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The convictions follow the deaths of two people involved in Hsiao’s controversial slap therapy workshops that he claimed removed “toxic waste” from the body, PEOPLE reported.
Daniel Kergom, a 71-year-old diabetic, died after attending one of Xiao’s workshops in 2016. During the workshop, Kergom stopped taking insulin, a decision that Hsiao reportedly praised. BBC. Prosecutors said that by the third day of the workshop, Kergom was “vomiting, tired and weak, and by the evening was groaning in pain and unable to answer questions.”
Ka Gum’s death is the second fatality linked to Xiao’s workshop. In 2015, a 6-year-old boy in Australia died after his parents stopped taking insulin, following Hsiao’s instructions. guardian Reported. Mr Hsiao had previously been found guilty of manslaughter in the boy’s death in Sydney.
The practice, known as paida lazin, involves pounding and stretching the skin and often leaves participants with bruises and marks. independent person He explained.
In sentencing, Judge Bright expressed concern that Mr Hsiao continued to believe in this practice.
“You said congratulations. [Carr-Gomm] According to the BBC, Judge Bright said: “When you learned that she had stopped taking her insulin, you called emergency medical services, even though you knew that without administering insulin she was likely to die. I believe that they will continue to do so.There is a risk that they will actively or implicitly encourage their followers to reduce their medication.”
“I am concerned that history is repeating itself, and this poses a danger to our people. In this particular respect, I consider you dangerous.”
Xiao compared himself to a political prisoner and claimed that slap therapy was “completely beyond the imagination of the media and experts,” the Guardian reported.
