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A traditional healer entrapped a 12-year-old girl and tricked her into having sex with him for 15 years.
The woman, now aged 28 and identified by the initial “H by police went missing from the village of Bajugan, Indonesia in 2003 .
She was kept in a jungle cave by the shaman, an 83-year-old man identified by officers as JG.
It was gathered that during the day the woman was kept in the cave to avoid detection, but at night she was brought up to a hut near the shaman’s own.
She was rescued by policemen in Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province on Sunday.
Central Sulawesi Police , Chief Muhammad Iqbal Alqudusy said the old man had shown her a picture of a boy named Amrin “who she thought was her boyfriend.”
“She was led to believe that Amrin’s spirit had entered (the elderly man’s) body,” Iqbal said on Tuesday at a news conference that was posted online.
Iqbal later told Reuters the woman said she had been having intercourse with “Jin Amrin” since 2003 “but she was really having sex with JG”. The Shaman admitted to sexual relations with her since 2008.
Police said they found the woman after her sister alerted neighbours she was nearby.
According to the Jakarta Post, the sister was married to the son of the shaman, known for his traditional healing methods and abilities to channel spirits.
The man explained the victim’s disappearance to her parents by saying she had gone to Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, to work, the newspaper reported.
The man has been charged with offences under Indonesia’s child protection laws, which carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country but old beliefs about spirits and other paranormal activity are still held by some.