280 lashes for helping magician in Saudi

A Saudi court ordered a man lashed 280 times after he was found guilty of helping an African magician residing in his home country.

Police arrested the defendant in the Western Red Sea port of Jeddah after a Saudi man reported that he charged him SR9,000 (Dh9,000) and sent the money to the magician in Africa for alleged treatment of magic spell.

‘Ajel’ newspaper said the defendant persuaded the Saudi man that he and his wife were under a magic spell because they could not make babies.

“Police sent an informer pretending to be under a magic spell. When he paid the middleman, they swooped on his house and arrested him,” the paper said, adding that other victims have also reported him to the police.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.