Sorcerer jailed for molesting woman

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a November Criminal Court ruling, sentencing a man to four years in prison after convicting him of molesting a woman in one of the governorates in June of last year.

The court declared the defendant guilty of molestation and sorcery charges and handed him the maximum sentence of four years.

Court papers said the victim’s one-year-old daughter was constantly crying, so her husband suggested visiting a sorcerer to check on her.

“The couple went to his house, and he asked the husband to hold a burning pot and leave the room and blow on it,” according to the court transcripts.

In the meantime, he asked the victim, 26, to place a wet towel on her head as “part of his alleged witchcraft treatment of the toddler”.

“When the victim placed the wet towel on her head he proceeded to molest her by touching her private parts,” according to court documents.

The victim immediately left the room with her daughter and asked her husband to leave saying that “she did not want to stay any minute longer”.

When the couple arrived home with their daughter, the court maintained, “the victim informed her husband of the sexual assault and he reported the incident to the police”.

The defendant appealed his verdict through his lawyer claiming that the prosecution “failed to provide any solid evidence” to implicate him.

The defence also claimed that the victim provided contradictory statements, which could not be used as evidence against his client.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the sentence.

The higher court ruled that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

The Court of Cassation was headed by Judge Mohammad Ibrahim and included judges Yassin Abdullat, Nayef Samarat, Mohammad Khashashneh and Hamad Ghzawi.