CAIRO: An Egyptian man in Jeddah on the Western coast of Saudi Arabia is on trial for sexually harassing women, groping them and impersonating a spiritual healer and charging for it, the country's Okaz news reported Monday. The man's request to be released on bail has been denied. The Egyptian man, in his 40s, was arrested by the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice when they ambushed and arrested the man and gave him up to the police. The man reportedly convinced women that he was a spiritual healer and invited them over to his house where he pretended to perform a form of exorcism by touching their genitals, and if a woman objected his touches, he would say that was where the “evil spirit comes out.” By searching the man, texts and photos of women were found on his phone, adding more to his charges, the court said. Women had started reporting the man to the police, who eventually arrested him. One can become a spiritual healer using the Qur'an and holy texts in Saudi, and all they need is a practicing license to work. The general prosecutor is calling for the man's deportation and a penalty of lashes, yet the court has not given its sentence yet. The Egyptian foreign ministry nor the Egyptian embassy in Saudi Arabia have not commented officially on the man's case. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/yjLLy Tags: abuse, Harassment, Healer, Jail Section: Egypt, Latest News, Saudi Arabia, Women
