- 20 Nov 2020 07:36
#15138173
4 women put on trial for Witchcraft in Morocco
A self-styled fortune teller and three of her clients are on trial after one of them sought out her services in order to prevent her husband from having a second wife, they are also accused of desecrating a grave, reported World Morocco News yesterday.
The four women are standing trial at the Court of First Instance of Sale, next to the Moroccan capital, Rabat, after three of the women travelled from Fez to Sale to seek the consultation from a shawafa or fortune teller in Arabic.
The shawafa, who operated out of a hair salon, is alleged to have led the three women to a cemetery between Rabat and Sale where they intended to bury objects including locks of hair and undergarments. However, their suspicious activity was spotted by a cemetery guard who informed the police leading to their arrest. The clients were taken into police custody while the shawafa was detained at a prison for "recidivism of witchcraft activities and grave desecration".
According to the World Morocco News report, shawafa are known to use talisman, herbs and supernatural practices to ward off djinns (spirits) and claim to predict the future.
Last year US-Moroccan rapper, French Montana said in an interview that he was afflicted by Moroccan witchcraft that led to his hospitalisation. "I think I ate something bad. I think someone was trying to … you know," he trailed off. "They don't got no guns over there, they fight with spirits and s**t like that."
The popularity of witchcraft has also led other countries in the Arab world stereotyping Moroccan women as engaging in black magic, although its practise is used across the region too. Back in 2010 it was reported that a Kuwaiti TV channel had to apologise to Moroccans after it aired an animated comedy series depicting Moroccan women as witches trying to ensnare rich Kuwaiti husbands by using spells, while Saudi Arabia banned Moroccan women "of a certain age" from performing umrah (the lesser pilgrimage) over fears their visas could be used for other purposes.
A year later, Saudi's quasi-legislative body, the Shura Council granted permission for Moroccan women to work as maids in Saudi households, although this caused a backlash as hundreds of Saudi women complained that the move was tantamount to allowing black magic in their homes with their husbands at risk of being seduced and unable to ward off spells. A woman was beheaded for witchcraft in Saudi Arabia in 2011.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200 ... itchcraft/
Two women were arrested for witchcraft in Saudi Arabia in 2017.
The women were caught trying to photocopy pictures of magical symbols in a shop.
It was caught on video.
The woman could be seen on the video begging the shop owner not to report her to police.
The country set up a special "anti-witchcraft" unit in 2009.
According to the Saudi Gazette in 2012, 215 people in the country were arrested for witchcraft.
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/n ... witchcraft
Wow! This sounds like something out of the Dark Ages.
Maybe these countries are more backwards than thought.
A self-styled fortune teller and three of her clients are on trial after one of them sought out her services in order to prevent her husband from having a second wife, they are also accused of desecrating a grave, reported World Morocco News yesterday.
The four women are standing trial at the Court of First Instance of Sale, next to the Moroccan capital, Rabat, after three of the women travelled from Fez to Sale to seek the consultation from a shawafa or fortune teller in Arabic.
The shawafa, who operated out of a hair salon, is alleged to have led the three women to a cemetery between Rabat and Sale where they intended to bury objects including locks of hair and undergarments. However, their suspicious activity was spotted by a cemetery guard who informed the police leading to their arrest. The clients were taken into police custody while the shawafa was detained at a prison for "recidivism of witchcraft activities and grave desecration".
According to the World Morocco News report, shawafa are known to use talisman, herbs and supernatural practices to ward off djinns (spirits) and claim to predict the future.
Last year US-Moroccan rapper, French Montana said in an interview that he was afflicted by Moroccan witchcraft that led to his hospitalisation. "I think I ate something bad. I think someone was trying to … you know," he trailed off. "They don't got no guns over there, they fight with spirits and s**t like that."
The popularity of witchcraft has also led other countries in the Arab world stereotyping Moroccan women as engaging in black magic, although its practise is used across the region too. Back in 2010 it was reported that a Kuwaiti TV channel had to apologise to Moroccans after it aired an animated comedy series depicting Moroccan women as witches trying to ensnare rich Kuwaiti husbands by using spells, while Saudi Arabia banned Moroccan women "of a certain age" from performing umrah (the lesser pilgrimage) over fears their visas could be used for other purposes.
A year later, Saudi's quasi-legislative body, the Shura Council granted permission for Moroccan women to work as maids in Saudi households, although this caused a backlash as hundreds of Saudi women complained that the move was tantamount to allowing black magic in their homes with their husbands at risk of being seduced and unable to ward off spells. A woman was beheaded for witchcraft in Saudi Arabia in 2011.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200 ... itchcraft/
Two women were arrested for witchcraft in Saudi Arabia in 2017.
The women were caught trying to photocopy pictures of magical symbols in a shop.
It was caught on video.
The woman could be seen on the video begging the shop owner not to report her to police.
The country set up a special "anti-witchcraft" unit in 2009.
According to the Saudi Gazette in 2012, 215 people in the country were arrested for witchcraft.
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/n ... witchcraft
Wow! This sounds like something out of the Dark Ages.
Maybe these countries are more backwards than thought.