MAKKAH, 26 March 2007 — The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice recently arrested an eccentric 50-year-old Turkistani who has been dabbling in magic and charging people up to SR10,000 for his services.
A woman helped the commission members nab the man, an overstayer, by approaching him on the pretense of needing help to make her husband come back to her and leave his second wife.
The man said he would help the woman on receipt of SR10,000 to be paid in two installments. When the woman brought the man the first installment, he threatened to harm her if she failed to pay the complete amount.
It was then that commission members moved in and arrested the man. While searching his home, the commission members also discovered a handmade life-size doll dressed in kinky nightclub clothing, complete with accessories, a blonde wig and makeup.
Following his arrest, the man spoke to Arab News. “I worked for 20 years as a tanker driver. After that I used to fix flutes,” said the magician, who insisted that he was not a magician.
Commission members showed the man his belongings, at which the man said he hopes Allah forgives him.
Speaking about the life-size doll, the man said he made it after his wife left him when he became morally corrupt. “I was born and raised in the Kingdom. My ancestors have been in the country for over 100 years,” he said.
The man said he has been unable to acquire Saudi citizenship because he has been found guilty of several crimes including drinking alcohol and assault, for which he has served prison sentences.
“I am married and I have five children. The biggest is Ala who is 20 years old now,” he said.
Ala said he disapproves of his father’s activities and so left home. “I only come to check on my mother and siblings. My mother is a great person; she studies the Qur’an. When my father told her that he is a practicing magician, we all left him,” he said.
He added that his father prepared the first floor of the family home to practice magic. He used to hang out there with his friends to enjoy drugs and drink alcohol. “My mother has returned to him. I don’t even get the chance to sit with my mother for more than half an hour because of my father’s strange habits,” said Ala.
Commission members say that the man had told his wife that he would harm her and her children if they did not return to live with him. He would also force her to serve alcohol and dance for him and his friends. The wife would obey and would continue directing her children to read the Qur’an for protection. The magician is alleged to have harmed his wife’s cousin for helping her. He reportedly cast a spell on him.
