Belgian ’Exorcist’ on Trial for Alleged Rape During Islamic Healing Sessions

Latifa*, Nabila* and Nadia* say they were victims of Mohammed who kept them under his control for years. Nabila and Nadia claim he raped them during "Roqya" sessions, an exorcism specific to Islam, reports La Libre.

Latifa and Mohamed got married in 1999 and have two children. According to the account of the mother of the family, the 11 years of married life were a real nightmare. "Little by little, he isolated me from everything," she explained before the Brussels Court of Appeal. She had her husband on her back. Informed of the presence of Nabila, sequestered in the converted basement of the family home, Lafita tried to denounce Mohamed.

In 2014, Nabila’s parents had entrusted their daughter, who was suffering from psychological problems, to the "traditional therapist". At the time, she was 21 years old. She was far from imagining that she would become a victim of rape. Mohamed made the young woman believe that her problems came from her parents. Hence the need to cut ties. "To dispossess me, I had to undress," she will recount. Mohamed drew signs on her body with a bamboo stick, insisting on her intimate parts. He ended up raping Nabila.

"I only practiced Quranic readings by placing my hands on the forehead and burning incense," Mohamed defends himself. According to him, Nabila was "possessed by spirits, touched by jinns. One person out of two is in this situation in Morocco".

Nadia is the third alleged victim. Mohamed had promised to help her come into possession of her inheritance. "He bamboozled me with religion," she told the investigators, accusing the "traditional therapist" of raping her after sessions where he imposed his hands on her head and all over her body to, he said, calm her headaches. The verdict is expected on April 1.

*Borrowed first names