Frenchman 'cast spell' in bid to make British woman his wife, court told

DUBAI // A man who broke into a woman's house and cast a magic spell to make her marry him threatened to kill her and spat on her Quran when it failed, a court heard yesterday.

RJ, 41, a Frenchman, broke into the house of the 36-year-old Briton while she was asleep on December 3 last year and waited in her bathroom, prosecutors told the Criminal Court.

The public relations professional said that when she woke up, she walked to her toilet and opened the door to see the Frenchman standing in a pool of dirty water.

"He pushed me inside the room so I fell on its floor, then he locked the door with the key and hid the key inside his pocket," said the woman. "He said, 'now you will listen to me'."

She said the man grabbed her and pushed her to a chair, then asked her why she kept a Quran in her room and had a sign saying "By the Name of God" on her door. He said he believed she wanted to convert to Islam.

"He asked how I could trust Muslims and Arabs," the woman continued. She said that when she replied she was studying Islam he slapped her, pulled her hair and poured water on her face.

She told prosecutors he kept her locked up for about four hours, telling her he loved her and threatening to kill her and her family if she refused to marry him.

The woman said that when he left the house she was too shocked to react until the next morning when a male Saudi friend came to her room after trying to call her. He saw the dirty water on the floor and took her to the police station to report the incident.

KM, 59, a manager from Britain, said he cut his business ties with the Frenchman after he confessed what he had done to the woman.

"He also told me that he used white magic to affect [the woman], which he told me was called kabala magic," said the manager. "He told me he used this magic by mixing dirt with water and pouring it on the woman's floor."

The defendant has denied assault, locking a woman up against her will, threats to kill, trespass, insulting Muslims and insulting religious icons.

The next hearing was scheduled for October 9.