Two maids jailed, to be lashed for sorcery

A Saudi court gave heavy jail sentences to two Indonesian housemaids and ordered them lashed 700 times with a whip on charges of practising witchcraft to extort money from their employers, a local daily reported on Monday.

The two maids, aged 33 and 25 years, had used clothes and other personal items to cast a spell on the man and his family in Riyadh since they started working for him nearly three years ago, 'Alyoum' newspaper said.

The court in the Saudi capital was told that the two maids used their magic skills to control the family’s life and drain their employer’s financial resources.

“They also controlled his behaviour and the health of all family members…the family started to look feeble and pale and could not do anything to end their ordeal,” the paper quoted the man’s brother as saying.

“They succeeded in extorting much money from the family to send it to their families in Indonesia. They drained the family financially and physically.”

The paper reported the court sentenced the 33-year-old maid to five years in prison and 500 lashes and the other maid to two years in jail and 200 lashes. It also ordered their deportation after completing their jail terms.

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