Asia in 3 minutes: sex fiend shaman in Indonesia, money laundering monk in Thailand

Indonesian shaman accused of keeping girl as sex slave for 15 years

An elderly village witch doctor in Indonesia entrapped a 12-year-old girl and tricked her into having sex with him for the next 15 years by claiming to be possessed by the “jin”, or spirit of a young boy, police said. Acting on a tip-off, police said they found the woman, who was now aged 28, in a rocky crevice in a jungle near Bajugan village where she had been held during the day since her disappearance in 2003. Central Sulawesi Police Chief Muhammad Iqbal Alqudusy said the man had shown the girl a picture of a boy named Amrin “who she thought was her boyfriend”. “She was led to believe that Amrin’s spirit had entered [the elderly man’s] body,” Iqbal said. “It is obvious that he was satisfying his lust.”

What next? According to The Jakarta Post, the sister was married to the son of the shaman, reputed for his traditional healing methods and abilities to channel spirits. The man explained the victim’s disappearance to her parents by saying she had gone to work in the capital, Jakarta, the newspaper reported. The man has been charged with offences under child protection laws.

Jet-setting and designer-wearing Thai monk jailed for 114 years

A Thai court sentenced a disgraced former monk to 114 years in prison on Thursday, a court official said, more than a year after he was extradited from the US. Wiraphon Sukphon made headlines in 2013 when footage emerged of him wearing designer aviator sunglasses with a Louis Vuitton bag on a private jet. The 39-year-old fled to the US but was sent back after he was accused of raping a minor and deceiving donors who gave him money to build the world’s largest emerald Buddha image. Further investigation revealed he owned luxury cars and multiple bank accounts valued at about US$700,000. Wiraphon was convicted of money laundering, fraud and violating the Computer Crime Act for raising funds online, a Bangkok court official said.

What next? Thailand is mostly Buddhist and the religion is woven into everyday life, with most men spending at least some time in a monastery as novice monks. But the junta that seized power in 2014 has taken a strong line against a Buddhist clergy mired in scandal. Authorities last year floated the idea of introducing digitised ID cards to better track monks with criminal convictions.

Facebook sorry for balloons in posts after disastrous Lombok quake

Facebook apologised after users posting about a deadly earthquake in Indonesia on the social media platform saw their messages decorated with balloons and confetti. A 6.9 magnitude quake struck the island of Lombok on Sunday, killing more than 300 people and leaving thousands homeless. Many Indonesians wrote messages on Facebook using the word ‘selamat’ – meaning ‘safe’ and ‘congratulations’ – triggering the animations. “We regret that it appeared in this unfortunate context and have since turned off the feature locally,” a Facebook spokeswoman said. Siane Monreal, social media manager for the International Committee of the Red Cross said: “Imagine if you were waiting for hours without any news of your loved ones … Then finally you see on Facebook that they are OK – and then you see balloons. That’s not a celebration.”