A “holy man” may have convinced 100 women to sleep with him, saying he would cast spells in return for sexual favours, one of his alleged victims has claimed.
The woman, a university lecturer and mother, said she agreed to have sex with Syed Shah, 29, and handed over £5,400 after he promised to save her marriage.
The 28-year-old, who has asked not to be named, claimed Shah told her the intimate sessions were necessary to strengthen the spiritual bond between them. She decided to speak out after Shah was jailed earlier this month for sexually assaulting another woman during a healing session.
Prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, Claire Nicholls said Shah had promoted himself as a holy man and garnered the trust of the community.
She said: “He breached this trust and preyed on a vulnerable victim who he assaulted for his personal sexual gratification.”
Shah, from Stechford, Birmingham, was jailed for two years and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register after pleading guilty to sexual assault charges.
A senior police officer said after the case that he was a “very dangerous sexual predator”.
After the sentencing, the unnamed mother broke her silence to tell of how Shah had convinced her to have sex with him in return for his help. She said she feared Shah had conned more than 100 victims after he showed her dozens of images on his phone of women he had bedded claiming they had come to him “for help”.
