Toronto woman charged with witchcraft

[The Straight Story]

Toronto woman charged with witchcraft


TORONTO, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- A Toronto woman is in custody facing the old and rare charge of practicing witchcraft, along with fraud charges, police said.

The charge of practicing witchcraft in Canada's Criminal Code dates back to 1892 and was filed against 36-year-old Vishwantee Persaud in late November, the Toronto Star reported.

The woman allegedly gained the confidence of long-time criminal lawyer Noel Daley, who told the Law Times he gave the woman nearly $150,000 in salary as a legal assistant, for business ventures that never materialized and cancer treatments.

Persaud also faces two fraud charges in connection with some of those ventures, but the witchcraft charge stemmed from an incident in which she allegedly read Tarot cards for Daley and told him she was the embodiment of his dead sister, the report said.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/International/2009/12/10/Toronto-woman-charged-with-witchcraft/UPI-35361260451157/

[LisaM]

1. 1892?

It sounds like something more out of 1692. It seems almost impossible that Toronto would have put a law on the books in 1892 forbidding witchcraft.

[Tailormyst]

2. omg....... In Canada???

I can understand a charge of fraud, but this charge of witchcraft scares the crap out of me.

[Hepburn]

3. Blessed be....

...:hi:

[Tailormyst]

5. Right back at you Sister!

I hope you have a very Happy Yule :)

[Hepburn]

8. Thanks...and the same to you and yours....

...:hi:

[Mojorabbit]

17. Chills me to the bone. nt

[FiveGoodMen]

4. What the Fuck, Canada?

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

6. She turned me into a NEWT!

well, I got better.

[Uncle Joe]

12. Well then, Canada has damn good reason to prosecute.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

Float. Duck. *insert MP reference*

:rofl:

[Iggo]

21. Who are you who are so wise in the ways of science?

B-)

[arcane1]

7. From the article:

"Law Professor Alan Young at York University's Osgoode Hall law school, told the Star the witchcraft charge doesn't so much target witches, but those who fake mystical powers and prey on vulnerable people."

We need more laws of this kind, IMO

[get the red out]

13. Sure we do

We would be really stupid if we passed laws like that, they would be misued by the Religious Right so much in the south that the ACLU would be completely over run. It would very quickly become nothing but non-Christian persecution.

[JoeyT]

19. Actually I doubt the religious right wants that law.

"I can speak aloud and the creator of the universe will alter the laws of reality to suit me." sounds an awful lot like a fake mystical power to me.

Edited to add: Unless they can prove it in court, of course. If they can reanimate corpses or cause severed limbs to regrow, they'd be found innocent. ;)

[dalaigh lllama]

14. They'd better rethink that one

When they say this law targets "...those who fake mystical powers and prey on vulnerable people," that would pretty much land all religious leaders in jail.

[paulsby]

16. it isn't the place of the government to determine

whose "mystical powers" are fake. unless, it's redundant, the phrase "fake mystical powers" also implies that there is such a thing as "real" mystical powers.

[petronius]

20. I think it makes sense - real mystical powers are legal, and the government would

have no interest or role in proving them (and I think it would be rather difficult to prove such things). However, fake mystical powers - microphones, machines, sleight-of-hand, whatever - are provable, and when they're used in a fraud it's the governments role to prove it.

Of course, why a special category of fraud is required is beyond me, but it probably does make for a more interesting day in court...

[earth mom]

22. Well then, you might want to start with all the christian churches in the U.S.

Because selling the "prosperity gospel", "the rapture" and all the other crap these churches push on people is the exact definition of "preying on vulnerable people".

[SidDithers]

9. Bit more detail from the Toronto Star...

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/736959---witch-was-wicked-police-say?bn=1

She was actually charged for faking witchcraft, not for being a witch.

Despite its archaic tone, the witchcraft charge isn't all that rare.

From January 1999 to October 2009, 38 people in Ontario were charged under Section 365, which deals with fraudulently pretending to exercise witchcraft, sorcery, fortune telling or conjuration.

The provision is really a remnant from the dark ages, said Alan Young, a professor at York University's Osgoode Hall law school.

The charge, which was part of the code when it was enacted in 1892, has nothing to do with the occult, but with scammers who fake mystical powers, Young said.

"They wanted to regulate the practice to protect vulnerable people from giving their life savings over to fortune tellers who were basically con artists."

Sid

[Dorian Gray]

24. Well, that's a bit different

but wouldn't it be covered under the fraud charges?

[Dorian Gray]

25. Ooops

double post!

[polly7]

10. del.

[no_hypocrisy]

11. Think she'll get a fair trial?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJFA6uEfUlM

BTW, in the New England colonies, the punishment for the FIRST offense of witchcraft was burning at the stake. You gotta wonder what they would do to you if you were convicted a second time.

[proteus_lives]

15. Reminds me of a Law & Order: CI episode.

Sounds like a con-woman.

[apocalypsehow]

18. I urge everyone to read the entire article before commenting - it's not about a return to Salem.

But, of course, few serious axe-grinders will: persecution-chic is just so much fun!!!

[Dorian Gray]

23. The fraud charges...

sure. Witchcraft? Wow. It's like 1600s Salem, MA in Canada.