A young mother has claimed a that a ‘holy conman’ agreed to cast spells to save her marriage on condition that she had sex with him and handed over £5,400.
Syed Shah, 29, allegedly hoodwinked the woman into twice sleeping with him while fleecing her out of cash.
She says he insisted the sex sessions were necessary to strengthen the ‘spiritual bond’ between the pair – with the conman later claiming to have made a magical potion to help her.
His victim, wracked with guilt, has now broken her silence after the faith-healing fraud was jailed for two years for sexually assaulting another woman who turned to him for help.
After the Birmingham Crown Court case, a senior police officer described the Stechford conman as “a very dangerous sexual predator”.
The married mum who we shall call “Hannah” – not her real name – agrees and fears the list of vulnerable women bedded by the lecherous holy man could run into hundreds.
The 28-year-old is another addition to Shah’s client base, which largely comprises women down-trodden and burdened by superstitions.
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Desperate to save her crumbling marriage, she says she was putty in Shah’s dirty hands.
Hannah admitted she still finds it hard to explain how she allowed herself to be manipulated by the fake “Pir”.
She fears many others who turned to Shah have been used to satisfy his lust.
“He showed me pictures of many, many women on his phone,” she said.
“He said, ‘These are the other women who have come to me for help’.
“When I went to his house, there were five women waiting to see him, two of whom were young women. Most of them emerged from their meeting with him holding some kind of orange liquid.”
Hannah claims Shah bombarded her with calls and even rang her on the day he was sent down, claiming he was leaving for Pakistan.
When she tried to break free, she said brazen Shah insisted she should continue with the X-rated sessions to ensure the spell remained strong.
When she explained that she and her husband were back together, she says he warned that unless the bedroom sessions continued, the marriage would again founder.
Supersticious remedies
The nightmare began when Hannah made the mistake of approaching Shah in June this year after leaving the family home.
“I had problems with my in-laws,” Hannah explained. “They wanted a hand in the way I lived.
“I went to his home and he explained what was going to happen. He gave me a prayer to read 500 times a day. I did that for two weeks.
“After that, I told him things were still the same, so he told me to burn pieces of paper he had written on. I did that for 21 days.”
She was also ordered to bury a book in a nearby cemetery.
With Hannah no nearer a reconciliation, she claimed Shah decided the time was right to reveal his true motives.
“If I slept with him and we had a connection, he would do everything for me. I said I would think about it,” she said.
“Two weeks later I went to him and we did have a relationship.
“It was very, very difficult. He said he done the same thing 100 times with women who he had helped.”
Within three weeks, she claims Shah was again pestering her for sex.
“I slept with him again,” she admitted. “I didn’t want to. I said this was the last time, that it had nothing to do with having a sexual relationship.”
Hannah claims she was not only sexually manipulated but she was also duped financially.
Her problems were so complex that she says Shah insisted he needed to recruit a second healer to cast more potent spells.
“He told me he worked for free,” says Hannah, “which I find hard to believe. The house was spotless, he employed a cleaner and drove a brand new Audi.”
Hannah handed over the cash. But she said Shah still refused to take no for an answer when it came to sex.
“I told him everything is fine, I’m OK,” says Hannah. “But he insisted, unless I slept with him again, everything that had been achieved would fail.”
Hannah is now set to make a complaint to West Midlands Police.
Last week Shah was jailed for two years for a sex attack on a woman he was meant to be “healing”.
He had pounced after ordering the victim to undress.
The perverted conman initially denied any involvement but was put near the crime scene by data from his mobile phone.
Shah was charged and pleaded guilty to sexual assault.
He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for two years during sentencing at Birmingham Crown Court .
