MAKKAH, 28 February 2007 — An Afghan couple, who provided heartbroken housewives with spells and amulets, was arrested recently in Makkah by members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
Abdul Wahab Khan and his wife would wander the streets of the holy city pretending to sell scarves. Unknown to people, Khan and his wife would be on the lookout for heartbroken housewives experiencing marital problems to sell amulets and spells to.
According to commission members, the couple were highly popular among hospital staff and would charge any amount between SR2,000 and SR3,000.
Talking to Arab News, Abdul Wahab Khan said that the magic he uses is the strongest of its kind because it involves locks. He even claimed to be able to cure pain and treat fatal illnesses and diseases for an appropriate price.
Commission members say Khan had been preying on women for 13 years now. The couple was arrested after commission members arranged for a female colleague to approach Khan pretending she was having problems with her husband who wishes to take a second wife.
When the undercover commission member approached Khan, he asked her to provide her name, her husband’s name as well as the names of their mothers. He then said that he would prepare an amulet for her in two days and asked for SR2,000 in payment.
Members of the commission commented that unfortunately, Khan’s magic could not inform him of the trap he had fallen in to. Two days later when the commission member arrived at Khan’s apartment she was handed an amulet consisting of a lock, a piece of magnet, a piece of paper with a pin and a series of other folded pieces of paper with unclear writing on them.
“Khan told the commission member to throw the lock in the sea and that would stop her husband marrying the other woman. He also told her to place the magnet in a glass of water and let her husband drink from it three times. This he said would revive the intimacy between her and her husband,” said the commission member.
He also told her to place the other papers in different locations including a tree located away from her house and a fan in her home. Commission members arrested Khan and his wife while they were busily instructing the undercover female commission member.
