An alternative healer who advocates a technique known as “slapping therapy” has been charged over the death of a woman at one of his workshops in England seven years ago.
Hongchi Xiao was charged with manslaughter by gross negligence in the October 2016 death of Danielle Carr-Gomm, Wiltshire police said.
British police first sought to arrest Xiao in 2019. He was detained after being extradited from Australia.
Xiao promotes paida lajin therapy, in which patients are slapped, or slap themselves, repeatedly, ostensibly to release toxins from the body. Patients often end up with bruises or bleeding. The technique has its roots in Chinese medicine, but critics say it has no scientific basis.