DUBAI // A man who cast a Kabbalah magic spell on a woman before spitting on her Quran and threatening to kill her if she rejected his marriage proposal has been sentenced to two years in prison.
The Criminal Court found RJ, a 41-year-old Frenchman and business partner, guilty on charges of trespass, assault, locking up a woman against her will, making threats to kill, insulting religious icons and insulting Muslims.
He broke into the home of the 36-year-old British PR professional SM on December 3 last year and cast what he believed was a Kabbalah magic spell by mixing dirt with water and pouring it over the woman's apartment. The spell was intended to make her susceptible to his romantic advances.
He then waited for the woman to wake up before pushing her into a room with him and locking the door.
He forced her onto a chair before asking here why she had put a sign saying "By the Name of God" on her door, and why she kept a Quran in her room. He asked the woman whether she wanted to convert to Islam before insulting the religion.
When she replied that she was studying Islam he slapped her face, pulled her hair and poured some of the spell water on her face.
He kept the woman locked up for the following four hours while he switched between professing his love for her and threatening to harm or kill her and her family if she rejected his marriage proposal. He then left her alone.
The next morning a Saudi friend visited the woman at her home in Motor City and discovered what had happened.
The Frenchman was arrested while celebrating his birthday at the Yacht Club bar in Dubai Marina.
He will be deported after completing his jail term.
salamir@thenational.ae
