A Saudi man has been chained in a basement apartment for more than six years because his father believes he is possessed by an evil female genie.

'When he has fits he has convulsions and his entire body twists and his eyes become completely white,' said the father of the 29-year-old man who has been identified only as Turki.'Then the voice of a woman can be heard coming from him.

Turki, 29, lies chained on the bed in the basement apartment where he has been for six years after being 'possessed by a genie'When Turki first began behaving bizarrely, his father took him to local Muslim clerics to recite the Koran over him.'But most of them became scared when they heard the female voice telling them that she was a royal jinn (genie) and that no-one can exorcise her unless Turki dies,' his father said.

One cleric advised him to shackle his son’s arms and legs in chains and read the Koran to him.

But genies, or jinn, in Islamic theology can be much more sinister. Some are good, others bad.They are believed to be normally invisible but have the ability to assume human or animal form and are often said to be motivated by jealousy or revenge.'We did this. My son became quiet but is totally unaware of what is happening around him. He does not talk and is now unable to harm anyone,'

Turki’s father told Arab News, an English language Saudi daily.But genies, or jinn, in Islamic theology can be much more sinister. Some are good, others bad.A Saudi family last year took a 'genie' to court, accusing it of theft and harassment.The jinn was said to have terrified the children by throwing stones, stealing mobile phones and speaking in male and female voices.

Turki lives in a tiny, two-room basement apartment with his impoverished mother and her three other children in the holy city of Mecca. They survive on £150 a month from social security.His parents divorced before he was 'possessed'.Turki’s father claimed he himself was afflicted by a jinn at the age of nine and suffered for more than four decades until it was exorcised by a cleric.

'I used to see a woman who would at times appear very beautiful and at times extremely ugly,' he said.On some occasions she was 'surrounded by fire' and on others appeared 'with animal limbs'.A Saudi human rights activist and professor in Sharia (Islamic law) who visited Turki found him to be in a 'semi-coma'.Muhammad Al-Suhali said Turki 'did not know what was going on around him. He could not eat, drink or use the toilet without the help of others'.

The professor added that when started to read some Koranic verses, Turki became furious and shook until he nearly fell out of his bed.'When I stopped reciting, he became quiet again but was distant and unaware of what was happening,' Suhali told Arab News.He praised Turki’s young wife for staying with him despite his frightening condition.Suhali called on Saudi Ministry of Social Affairs to provide the family with better accommodation and to include Turki in its social security programme.

Grisly find reveals Indonesia's fixation with black magic

by Tom Allard - 14/01/12, 3:00 AM

One of the faux caves where the flamboyant Ki Joko Bodo weaves his magic. Photo: Quentin Jones

On a Thursday morning last year, Sapari, a cemetery caretaker in Bonasari in East Java, made a disturbing discovery.Underneath the frangipani trees that stand as sentinels over the graves, he found neatly dug holes. Graves had been robbed.And on closer examination, the 60-year-old discovered the thieves had a particular target. Fifteen places of burial had been pilfered, all of them for children. Their remains had vanished.

Everyone was very worried when they found out,'' Sapari said. ''The families were very upset.''The villagers hatched a plan to stake out the cemetery the following night to catch the perpetrators red-handed if they returned.But the plot never played out. Word had got around and by afternoon the police had set up a crime scene and TV crews and journalists had descended on Bonasari.It turned out that Bonasari was not the only victim of the corpse-stealers.

Two other burial grounds had been robbed. In all, the graves of 24 children had been exhumed on the same night in a co-ordinated action.Police have yet to make an arrest and the investigation continues, but few are in doubt about the motivation of the grave robbers.''It was for black magic,'' Sapari says. ''Maybe for immunity, or strength … or maybe to make yourself disappear.''Ki Kusumo, anointed by several magazines as Indonesia's most popular paranormal, says: ''There are plenty of cases like this.

It's just that they don't always make the media.''He says deceased virgin teenage girls are particularly sought after and ''families have to guard the tomb for 40 days'' after burial. In Indramayu in West Java, he says he knows of babies born on an auspicious day in the Javanese calendar being kidnapped and beheaded. ''The heads are buried in the front of the person's house. They believe, this way, they will become wealthy.''To be sure, the case of the missing child corpses in East Java is especially grisly, but it speaks of the enduring fascination of Indonesians for the supernatural.

There are regular reports of schoolchildren and factory workers going into mass trances and millions of Indonesians visit tombs of holy men and nationalist heroes on auspicious dates, meditating long into the night, hoping for benevolent guidance.Across the archipelago, and especially in Java, dukuns, or shamans, still play a central role in many people's lives.

Believed to have special abilities to transcend the material world and communicate with spirits, they are consulted on a vast array of matters.Some are healers, specialising in massage, herbal remedies or acupuncture, tending to ailments that doctors can't seem to fix. Others provide advice on romance, careers, business opportunities, the best times to plant crops or hold a wedding.

Such benign advice is imparted by dukuns who practise white magic, but there are many others - known as dukun santet - who use black magic, and are hired to bring misfortune to rivals in love, business and politics.Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono complained during the 2009 election campaign that nefarious mystical forces were being deployed against him and his staff. ''Many are practising black magic.

Indeed, I and my family can feel it,'' he was quoted as saying by Antara, the official Indonesian news agency. ''It's extraordinary. Many kinds of methods are used. I have come to the conclusion that only prayers can defeat black magic attacks.''Yudhoyono's predecessors, Megawati Sukarnoputri and Abdurrahman Wahid were widely known to consult dukuns. Wahid famously rushed off in a helicopter at short notice to meditate at the tomb of one of Indonesia's Islamic saints after being advised his spirit was unhappy.

He was said to have abruptly sacked two ministers on his return.Suharto, Indonesia's former dictator,was also deeply in thrall to the spirit world, famous for his collection of sacred daggers, or kris, and ancient Javanese manuscripts that many believed were the source of his power.Even so, the relationship between the belief in the supernatural and Islam in Indonesia is complicated.

The country's largest Islamic organisation, Nahdlatul Ulama, which has about 30 million members, still endorses the old Javanese mystical traditions - Ilmu Jawa - but the increasing influence of a more austere form of Islam imported from the Middle East means that organisations such as the Majelis Ulama Indonesia, the country's peak clerical body, frowns on such practices.

Consultations with mystics by powerful figures are usually discreet, and lengths are taken to keep them from being publicised.''When they see a dukun or paranormal, it's like they are seeing their mistress. It's always done in secret,'' says Ki Joko Bodo, one of Indonesia's most famous and flamboyant dukuns.With his long hair and eyes accentuated by kohl, Joko Bodo is a paranormal from central casting.

Indeed, he has starred in several Indonesian horror movies. His enormous home in East Jakarta and the Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar parked in the garage are testaments to his success. Complete with an 11-storey Javanese temple, his compound is adorned with huge, garish statues, its walls bedecked in reliefs styled on those of the Borobudur temple.Many of the reliefs depict Joko Bodo himself, including one where the dukun is leading the rallies that led to Suharto's ousting. Another has him imparting blessings on officials from the tax office, attorney-general's department and ministry of industry.

He says he was seven years old when he realised he had a special gift and began to see jin - supernatural figures - his friends could not. ''Jins are non-physical creatures,'' he explains. ''They are not ghosts, they are not bad. Many are friendly and they can help improve the lives of people.''He leads me through a labyrinth below his house of faux caves where a young woman is waiting. He sits in front of low black altar, a basket of offerings containing fruit and flowers on one side, a child's doll sitting on the other.Joko Bodo produces a wooden box and places a bottle of water inside it, covering it with a black satin bag.

An incantation is made and the box removed from the bag. The water bottle is empty, transformed into energy which has entered the young woman, he says.He then douses the teenager from a small pool of water covered in petals and money. The young woman, who asked not to be named, is assured she will have a prosperous future.

She seems impressed and grateful.It's all over within 15 minutes, but Joko Bodo insists these rituals can be done quickly if the dukun, like himself, is particularly attuned to the spirit world. No doubt, it helps with turnover too.Ki Joko Bodo may come off as more charlatan than shaman but he is immensely popular and demand for his services has never been higher. He says senior figures from the government, military and police are among his most loyal clients.

There are thousands of dukuns across Java. Many make a modest living, never demanding payment, although accepting donations. In some villages, Islamic clerics double as dukuns.Ki Zukud lives in a modest home in Surabaya, where the paint peels off the walls and children run in and out of his living room. He runs an Islamic boarding school but dabbles in paranormal advice. His collection of kris is his pride and joy. He has 10 adorning his wall and each has a special purpose. One generates prosperity, another repels black magic.

''There is so much black magic everywhere,'' he says solemnly.He carefully consults the old Javanese calendar, with its complex cycles, to pick the right time for rituals and uses a mix of Koranic verses and Javanese mantras to tap into the supernatural.He insists a belief in the power of jins is completely in tune with Islamic teachings. The nine saints who brought Islam to Indonesia in the 14th and 15th centuries had used Javanese beliefs and stories to spread the religion. Why should things change?''Around here, I never have any problems with the other clerics,'' he says. ''In Indonesia, the mystical aura is very thick.'

Girl claims jinn causes tears of blood

by Sharon Hill • April 18, 2012 • 

Egypt teen cries tears of blood, says touched by jinnAn 18-year-old Egyptian girl who shed ‘blood tears’ claimed she had been touched by jinn, which are ghosts and spirits popular in Upper Egyptian folklore.According to a report in the Arabic language quotidian, Sabea’a, a girl named Dawa’a appeared on Al Nahar Television, to share her experience.

The Muslim scholar explained that the jinn in this case, thankfully, were merely an external influence on the girl. And that this was because there was no change in her voice, and too, that she did she suffer from physical convulsions.Those frightening symptoms, he asserted, are only seen in cases when jinn are internal and the victim has succumbed to total control.

Source: Ghost Theory

One of the commentators to the story mentions haemolacria, a condition that causes a person to produce tears that are partially composed of blood. Haemolacria most often is provoked by bacterial conjunctivitis, environmental conditions or injuries. Her eyes are bloodshot. Is this a case of a real medical condition being attributed to a supernatural entity?

One would hope we were past that phase. It would be better if she were medically examined before making such an extreme claim. Since a real condition exists to cause this, that should be automatically considered first.

'Some Makkah buildings possessed by jinns'

Neighbours report incidents of jinns causing fire and throwing stones at residents from abandoned buildings

By StaffPublished Friday, July 15, 2011

Jinns have scared and forced some Makkah residents to abandon buildings (SUPPLIED)

Some abandoned buildings and undeveloped areas in the holy city of Makkah have been possessed by jinns (genies) with incidents of stone thrown at people from abandoned houses, according to eyewitness reports.A report in Arab News said residents had to vacate these buildings and houses after supernatural forces scared them .Majdi Habeeb, a resident of Makkah, told the newspaper that there are rumours that these forces either attacked the residents or frightened them by making noises and causing fires till they leave the place.

Another resident Turki Al Hussein said: “The other day, I saw my neighbour and his family leaving their old house at midnight. They were in a bewildered state. When I asked them why they were leaving, they said people would not believe them if they gave the real reason. When some of the neighbours entered the house, stones were hurled at them. There were also some big cats and birds such as owls hovering above their head.

They also heard some strange noises and that forced them to run away from the house.”The house has been abandoned by residents.Muhammad Al Suhali, Director of Islamic Studies Centre at Umm Al Qura University in Makkah, said jinns do things like scaring people as it’s confirmed by the Holy Quran.“There are believers and non-believers among the jinns.

Those who cause trouble include both Muslim and infidel jinns. There could also be differences in the types of harm caused by them. There are jinns who set fires inside a house or those who make frightening noises in order to create panic and confusion,” he said.But people also alleged that some property developers are spreading these rumours in order to reduce prices and then buy them at lower rates. A real estate company official told Arab News that some businessmen were exploiting the situation to reduce the prices of buildings and plots of land.

Pakistan factory hit by mass psychogenic episode as workers fall ill

by Sharon Hill • October 29, 2013 • 

Mass hysteria, more precisely known as collective obsessional behavior or mass psychogenic illness is real thing. And this is a textbook example.‘Paranormal’ activity: Women fall unconscious following ‘exorcism’ at Landhi factory – The Express Tribune.Nearly 25 female workers of a Landhi garments factory fell unconscious in the aftermath of an exorcism to get rid of ‘evil spirits’ in the workplace on Monday

.“The factory seemed to be overtaken by a genie or evil spirit as many of my co-workers have experienced mysterious incidents in the past,” claimed Farzana Naseem, who arrived with an unconscious colleague in an ambulance. “A spiritualist was called to this morning by the factory owners to get rid of the suspected ‘jinns’ but as soon as he began reciting different verses, the workers began falling unconscious while others ran out shouting and screaming for help.

”The rescue teams were called in to the factory, Casual Sports Wear, which is located in Landhi Export Processing Zone, to take the unconscious employees to Jinnah hospital. The rescue workers insisted, however, that there was a mysterious gas leak which caused the workers to faint.“I do not believe the workers were possessed,” said Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre deputy executive director Dr Seemin Jamali. “But this hysteric influence might have played out as a ripple effect.

”But there was no evidence of a gas leak and the ill workers had nothing measurably wrong with them. It may be difficult to accept that these frightening and dramatic events are caused by the spread of social behaviors and stress but it is the case. We have seen many other examples of the same, especially in areas where superstition is rife. But it can happen anywhere.

A man accused of murdering his pregnant wife told police she was possessed by an evil spirit and tried to strangle herself, a court has heard.Pregnant Naila Mumtaz, 21, died at her home in Craythorne Avenue, Handsworth Wood, Birmingham, in 2009.Mohammed Mumtaz, 24, his mother, father and brother-in-law deny murder, manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult.

Birmingham Crown Court heard Mr Mumtaz claimed her death was "like a suicide".Paramedics were called to the family home in July 2009.They found Mrs Mumtaz's body in a bedroom and attempted to resuscitate her. She later died in hospital.Prosecutor Christopher Hotten described what the family members had told police after Mrs Mumtaz's death.'Get the spirit out'He said Mohammed Mumtaz believed his wife had been possessed by an evil spirit known as a Djinn and that he had been "similarly possessed".

He claimed that a person was present at the house praying "to get the spirit out of her".The jury heard that Mr Mumtaz told police that his wife had "suffocated herself by putting her hand in her mouth and she tried to strangle herself".Mr Mumtaz claimed his parents Salma Aslam, 51, and Zia Ul-Haq, 51, and his brother-in-law Hammad Hassan, 24, all of Craythorne Avenue, were trying to hold Mrs Mumtaz down to stop her from harming herself.The case is expected to last eight weeks.