Liu Jiaguo, head of the Zhu Shen Jiao (supreme spirit sect), was executed after a court in the Central Chinese province of Hunan condemned him for the rapes. The victims included two young girls and six unmarried women who were impregnated, the daily said. Liu, in his early thirties, was also charged with extortion, sabotaging law enforcement, harming the society and fraud, the newspaper said.

The Hunan province police smashed the sect last year, arresting more than 20 people including Liu and his lieutenant Zhu Anqing.

The court sentenced Zhu to 17 years in prison and fined 10,000 yuan for raping five of the women, and helping Liu extort 220,000 yuan from followers from 1992 to 1998.