Investigating the 'spiritual healers' sexually abusing women

A hidden satellite of enactment maltreatment and exploitation by men moving arsenic "spiritual healers" has been uncovered by BBC Arabic.

Spiritual healing, besides known arsenic "Quranic healing", is simply a fashionable signifier successful the Arab and Muslim world. It is mostly women who sojourn healers - believing that they tin lick problems and cure unwellness by expelling evil spirits known arsenic "jinn".

Testimonies gathered by the BBC from 85 women, implicit a play of much than a year, named 65 alleged healers successful Morocco and Sudan - 2 countries wherever specified practices are peculiarly fashionable - with accusations ranging from harassment to rape.

We spent months speaking to NGOs, courts, lawyers and women, gathering and verifying stories of abuse. An undercover newsman who underwent attraction with 1 specified healer for our investigation, was herself inappropriately touched earlier fleeing the scene.

Dalal (not her existent name) sought attraction for slump from a spiritual healer successful a municipality adjacent Casablanca a fewer years ago, erstwhile she was successful her mid-20s. She says the healer told her the slump was caused by a "jinn lover" who had possessed her.

At a one-to-one league helium asked her to odor a scent helium said was musk - but which she present believes to person been immoderate benignant of drug, due to the fact that she mislaid consciousness.

Dalal, who had ne'er had immoderate intersexual acquisition before, says she woke to find her underwear had been removed, and realised she had been raped. She says she began screaming astatine the raqi (Quranic healer), asking him what helium had done to her.

"I said: 'Shame connected you! Why did you bash this to me?' He said: 'To marque the jinn permission your body.'"

She says she didn't archer anyone what happened, arsenic she was truthful ashamed and was definite she would beryllium blamed. When she discovered a fewer weeks aboriginal that she was pregnant, she was terrified.

She adjacent thought astir taking her ain life.

When she told the healer astir the pregnancy, helium replied that the jinn indispensable person impregnated her. Dalal says she was truthful traumatised by her acquisition that erstwhile her babe was born, she refused to look astatine her, clasp her, oregon adjacent springiness her a name, and gave her up for adoption.

She told america that if her household recovered retired what had happened to her, they would termination her.

Many of the women we spoke to said they feared they themselves would beryllium blamed if they reported their abuse, and truthful precise fewer had told their families, fto unsocial the police. Some said they besides disquieted that reporting what had happened mightiness provoke the jinn to instrumentality revenge connected them.

In Sudan, a pistillate named Sawsan told america that erstwhile her hubby near the household location to unrecorded with a 2nd woman - arsenic is his close nether Sharia (Islamic law) - she recovered herself destitute, and approached a healer for help. She said she hoped helium could springiness her immoderate benignant of medicine for her hubby which would marque him dainty her better.

But she was not expecting his suggested treatment.

"He said helium would person enactment with maine and usage the resulting assemblage fluids to concoct a potion I should provender to my husband."

His proposal suggested helium was "fearless", she said.

"He was assured I would not study him to the constabulary oregon the courts oregon adjacent my husband."

Sawsan says she near the league instantly and ne'er returned. She did not study his behaviour.

Three of the 50 women we spoke to successful Sudan astir exploitation oregon maltreatment named the aforesaid spiritual person - Sheikh Ibrahim. One of the women, who we are not naming, said helium manipulated her into having enactment with him. Another, Afaf, told america she had to propulsion him disconnected her erstwhile helium asked to person enactment with her. She said she felt powerless.

"People don't judge that sheikhs accidental and bash these things. They don't judge it. How tin I find witnesses? No-one saw maine successful the country with him."

So, an undercover writer moving with our squad agreed to sojourn Sheikh Ibrahim successful a bid to cod much evidence.

The reporter, who we are calling Reem, posed arsenic a lawsuit suffering from infertility.

Sheikh Ibrahim said helium would accidental a supplication for her, and prepared a vessel of "healing water" - known arsenic "mahayya" - for her to instrumentality location and drink.

Reem says helium past moved to beryllium highly adjacent to her, and enactment his manus connected her stomach. When she asked him to instrumentality his manus away, she says, helium simply moved it down her body, implicit her clothes, to her genitals. She ran from the room.

"I was truly shaken by him," she told america afterwards. "He had a worrying look astir him."

She says she felt that his mode suggested this was not the archetypal clip helium had behaved successful this way.

The BBC questioned Sheikh Ibrahim astir what had happened to Reem. He denied that helium sexually harassed oregon assaulted women seeking his help, and abruptly ended our interview.

One pistillate who is offering an alternate to those who would similar spiritual healing, without the hazard of exploitation, is Sheikha Fatima.

Based adjacent Khartoum, she has opened a female-only healing centre. For 30 years, this has been 1 of the fewer places wherever women tin acquisition ruqyah oregon healing from different women.

We were fixed unsocial entree to this backstage space. During our visit, it was aggravated watching women astir maine losing each consciousness of their surroundings. Sheikha Fatima tells maine however women tin beryllium susceptible successful this state, which allows different healers to instrumentality vantage of them.

"Many women told america that they believed the sheikh is extracting the devil by touching them. They thought it was portion of the treatment," she says. "It's shocking what you perceive from these women."

We approached governmental authorities successful some Morocco and Sudan with our evidence.

In Sudan, Dr Alaa Abu Zeid, caput of the household and nine section astatine the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, was initially reluctant to judge that truthful galore women had reported experiences of maltreatment to us. But helium did admit that the deficiency of regularisation successful spiritual healing meant that it was "causing chaos", and that the relation was being utilized arsenic "a assemblage for those who person nary job".

He told the BBC that helium had explored its regularisation successful the past, but that the country's governmental instability meant it was not presently a priority.

In Morocco, Minister of Islamic Affairs Ahmed Toufiq said helium did not judge determination was a request for immoderate abstracted authorities regarding spiritual healers.

"It is hard to intervene legally successful these matters. The solution lies successful spiritual acquisition and preaching," helium told us.

Despite each the grounds we person gathered, Moroccan and Sudanese authorities are reluctant to instrumentality action. So the load remains connected women to talk up against those hiding down a healing profession.