Abrar Hussain: Police in Indonesia revealed on Tuesday that an elderly village ‘witch doctor’ deceived a 12 year-old girl into being his sex slave for 15 years by claiming her to be ‘possessed’ by the jin, or spirit, of a young boy.
The woman, an identified by police as “H”, was rescued on Sunday in Tolitoli regency, in Central Sulawesi province.
Acting on a tip-off, police found the victim, now a 28 year-old woman, in a rocky crevice in a jungle near Bajugan village, where she had been held during the day since her disappearance in 2003. Police added that during nighttime, she stayed in a hut near the house of the 83-year old man, whom they identified as “JG”.
Central Sulawesi police chief Muhammad Iqbal Alqudusy said the man had shown the girl a picture of a boy named Amrin “who she thought was her boyfriend”.
“She was led to believe that Amrin’s spirit had entered [the elderly man’s] body,” Iqbal said on Tuesday at a news conference.
Although Indonesia is a Muslim-majority country, other beliefs about spirits and paranormal activity are held by some.
According to a report by Reuters, the woman confessed to having intercourse with “Jin Amrin” since 2003, even though the man claimed it was much later in 2008.
Police said they found the woman after her sister alerted neighbors that she was nearby. According to the Jakarta Post, the sister was married to the son of the shaman, known for his traditional healing methods and abilities to channel spirits.
The shaman explained the victim’s disappearance to her parents by claiming she had gone to Jakarta “to work”, the newspaper reported. He has been charged with offences under child protection laws, which carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
-Source: The Guardian