Charged Islamic institutions and contexts Ruqya, shrine, and healing contexts Abidjan-Plateau, Côte d'Ivoire · 2024

Côte d'Ivoire: marabout held in custody and tried for sexually harassing a client after demanding sex to complete a curse-removal ritual

Record class

Context only

Evidence status

Charged

Authority role

Karamoko, marabout consulted by clients for spiritual/traditional treatment in Abidjan

Organization

No organization assigned

Spiritual nexus

The complainant's own account is that she sought Karamoko out specifically for his claimed power to identify and avert a coming misfortune; the demand for sex was framed as integral to the ritual's efficacy, and the retaliatory threat on refusal (a curse) is the same claimed spiritual power turned coercive — squarely the authority-as-instrument mechanism.

Curse or witchcraft threat
Sacred sex, purity, or sexual-energy claim

Scope decision

Sourced in French from FratMat, Nasuba Infos, Pouvoirs-Magazine, Levisonnaire, APR-News and Xibaaru (Senegalese outlet covering the Ivorian case), all reporting the same 15 October 2024 Abidjan-Plateau hearing. First record for Côte d'Ivoire in this corpus. Entered at charged/pre-trial tier: sources consulted describe pre-trial detention, the initial hearing and an adjournment for witness testimony, but no verdict; if a verdict is later confirmed this record should be upgraded and the outcome field revised. Karamoko's full name/surname was not given in any outlet consulted — he is named only as 'Karamoko', which functions in West African usage both as a personal/family name and as an honorific for a Quranic teacher, so some caution is warranted about whether this is a proper name or a title being used descriptively; the sources treat it as his name.

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2024-10-15 · pre-trial detention and hearing; case adjourned for witness testimony

Tribunal d'Abidjan-Plateau, Côte d'Ivoire. A young woman identified in reporting as Sali brought a complaint against her marabout, known as Karamoko, before the Abidjan-Plateau court on 15 October 2024, accusing him of sexual and moral harassment. She testified that after paying 15,000 CFA francs for a ritual to avert misfortune he had warned her of, he told her sexual relations with him were necessary to guarantee the ritual's success; when she refused, he threatened to curse her. Karamoko, held in custody since 8 October 2024, denied the accusations, claiming she had consulted him for abdominal pain and that he had prepared a traditional remedy. After hearing both parties, the judge adjourned the case to 18 October 2024 for witness testimony. No verdict was located in the sources reviewed for this research pass.

Documented coercion mechanisms

claimed foreknowledge of impending misfortune, used to induce the client to pay for and submit to a ritual
assertion that sexual relations with him were a necessary condition for the ritual's success
threats, after she refused, to curse her and 'ruin her life' by invoking bad spirits against her — i.e. weaponizing the same claimed spiritual power as retaliation for non-compliance

Primary record

Sources

national newspaper court reporting court reporting Fraternité Matin (FratMat), 'Harcèlement sexuel : Une cliente et son marabout devant les tribunaux d'Abidjan' (in French).: Ivorian paper of record; reports the 15 Oct. 2024 hearing, the curse/ritual pretext, and the adjournment for witness testimony.
national newspaper court reporting court reporting Nasuba Infos, 'Côte d'Ivoire : Une jeune fille traîne son marabout devant le tribunal' (in French).: Corroborates the complainant's account, the 15,000 CFA franc payment, and Karamoko's custody since 8 Oct. 2024.
national newspaper court reporting court reporting Pouvoirs-Magazine, 'Elle traduit son marabout en justice' (in French).: Independent corroboration of the case facts and hearing date.

Related record

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