Two churchgoers in Australia duped women into taking part in sex acts during fake prayer sessions by promising to lift black magic curses on them, police said on Friday.
The men, members of the Greek and Coptic Orthodox churches, were charged with a total of 220 sexual offences and fraud against one 30-year-old woman, who believed she and her family had been cursed by a member of the Greek community.
“I have never seen anything as bizarre as this or as callous as this before, perpetrated on young women in the community that really don’t deserve this,” Acting Superintendent Gary Bailey told reporters.
Police said the men, aged 38 and 61, had allegedly used religious fear to manipulate and abuse at least two women for sexual gratification and money and could potentially have assaulted other victims.
The men were charged with offences against another woman, 40, in June. The latest victim felt that unless the curse was removed, her family would suffer terribly, including death and illness.
“It is alleged the [older] man claimed to be a spiritual mentor who was able to ‘speak to angels’ to remove curses and banish evil spirits including the ‘evil eye’,” New South Wales police said in a statement.
The woman told police said had paid the men between A$500 and A$1 000 ($401 and $802) for each “prayer session” — which took place while she was blindfolded and at various hotels around western Sydney.
From 2001 to 2005 she had paid the men, who were not named, at least A$70 000, they said.
“Police will allege that both victims may have been drugged during these incidents,” Bailey said, adding that the women alleged that they had been told that by going through with sex acts, evil spirits would be removed.
Bailey said the women, who were religious, had shown tremendous strength and courage to overcome the embarrassment and shame they felt to contact police.
“We will allege these women have been the cruel prey of callous individuals who used religious fear to manipulate and abuse them for their sexual gratification and financial gain,” he said.
“Sexual offences are heinous but an offender who hides behind the cloak of religious respectability is particularly vile.”
He appealed for other victims to come forward.
“I do believe there are more,” he said. – AFP