Team setting for Taiwan to handle monks' death

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-01-16 08:54

NANJING -- A team of China's Buddhist Association will leave for Taiwan to deal with the aftermath in the wake of the deaths of two mainland monks visiting the island, a spokesman for the eastern Nanjing city government said Thursday.

A monk from the Chinese mainland committed suicide after having apparently murdered a fellow monk in a Taiwan hotel Wednesday morning, as they visited the island.

Police said they believed Chun Ru, 54, murdered Jing Ran, another monk, and then jumped to his death from the 13th floor of the Forte Hotel.

The monks were from Ling Gu Temple, based in eastern Jiangsu Province, of which Nanjing is the capital. Jing Ran was chief of the temple, while Chun Ru was the temple supervisor, in charge of administrative affairs.

They had been invited to Taiwan by the foundation's university.

The police did not discuss any motive for the apparent murder-suicide.

Monks with Lin Gu temple said Chun Ru had become unsociable and aloof over the past days and his fellow monks, including Jing Ran, had been trying to consoling him.

They said after Jing Ran had invited Chun Ru to go with him after receiving invitation and Chun Ru agreed.

Members of the delegation said Chun Ru had felt uncomfortable during the flight on Monday and Jing Ran volunteered to share a room with him in order to take care of him.

They said Chun Ru lost his documents for entering Taiwan one day before the tragedy happened.

A crime scene investigation found that Jing Ran, whose face showed signs of traumatic force, had been dead for a long time when his roommate, Chun Ru, jumped from the hotel's top floor.

Hotel video showed no other person had entered the room during the period when the murder apparently occurred and Chun Ru committed suicide between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Both were members of a six-member delegation of the Ling Gu Temple, and Jing Ran was the delegation head. The delegation entered Taiwan Monday to take part in a series of activities and will return to Nanjing Saturday.