Act on local cults

FOR ages now cult leaders have been using religion as a way to mask their true nature. Criminologist Daurius Figueira said in this country, while there is adequate laws for human trafficking, there are not enough laws to deal with cult leaders who use religion to lure young people.

“This is a very problematic area for the police, since we have enshrined in the Constitution, rights to personal beliefs,” Figueira said.

All over the world, he said, cult leaders use religion as a means to mask their activities. But in TT, we do not have a body of laws such as exists in Europe or the US to deal with using religion to target people. “Therefore cult leaders can easily utilize this cultic front in the country,” he said.

He was addressing the issue of missing teenager Shindlar Cuffy, who has not been seen since November 26. Figueira felt the words of a voicenote left for Cuffy’s parents indicate she was in fact taken by a cult.

SHE WAS LURED

The mother of the missing teen, Shondel Shallow, also believes her daughter has been lured by a cult. In an earlier report Shallow said she heard a voice message from the woman who said Shallow was not the one who gave birth to Cuffy, but God gave her Cuffy for a certain period of time. Referring to the voice note, Figueira said, “That is the language of a classic cult leader.”

He doesn’t believe this is a single case, but that cult leaders are out there recruiting other young people.

“One can never know the purpose of the cult. Trafficking them out of Trinidad can very well be a part of the purpose of the cult,” he said.

Those who recruit, he said, look for specific types of individual to target and in the case of human trafficking via a cult, they will target young women.

"There are young people who are taken in by religious messages, those who are obedient and are easily persuaded. Also passive people whom they can intimidate and threaten and will abide by these rules and threats.”

BRAINWASHED

The cult leader, he said, spends a lot of time brainwashing targets before taking them into the fold. He noted that it is a long-drawn-out process and family and friends must be wary of dramatic changes in the behaviour of young people in their families.

"These young people who have gone missing will not get up one morning and decide to disappear."

Instead they undergo a period of change before they decide to walk in to the arms of the cult. He urged parents to be very observant of the behaviour of teenagers, especially in their language, what they consider important, and also whether they become unusually withdrawn from the family unit. Also, he said, there may be changes in the way they dress and their movements while they are in home and school. Any change, he said, no matter how small, should not be dismissed.

Shallow said day she disappeared, the missing teen got into a car around 7.30 am to go to school at Marabella North Secondary but did not arrive there.