Sri Lankan Woman Accused of Witchcraft May Be Sentenced to Death

Truly awful.

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Complex Original

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A Sri Lankan woman could be sentenced to beheading in Saudi Arabia after being arrested on suspicion of "sorcery and witchcraft," according to the New York Daily News.

The woman is suspected of "casting a spell" on a 13-year-old girl in Saudi Arabia, although the interim direct of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa program, Philip Lutherwas quick to point out to ABC News that the Saudi government frequently uses the charge of sorcery to cover-up punishment for exercising free speech.

The arrest occured after the girl's father noticed her beginning to "act strangely" after running into the Sri Lankan woman at a shopping mall. He alerted security to get her arrested. 

"The punishment is always beheading for anyone found guilty of witchcraft," Saudi lawyer and human rights activist, Waleed Abu al-Khair, told Reuters of the case.

Amnesty International condemned a similar case back in December 2011, when another woman was beheaded after being accused of "sorcery and witchcraft."

"The charges of 'witchcraft and sorcery' are not defined as crimes in Saudi Arabia and to use them to subject someone to the cruel and extreme penalty of execution is truly appalling," Luther said.

[via Huffington Post]

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