Sorcery charge lands woman in court

A WOMAN of 69 was in court yesterday charged with using sorcery to con a Nicosia man out of money.

According to police, Hariye Rezvanoglu, who lives in the north, had pleaded not guilty to conning a 34-year-old man from Acropolis in Nicosia by telling him that he had been cursed and she could cure him for £5,000.

She was arrested in October last year.

According to the 34-year-old, who went to Rezvanoglu because he was having marital problems, she had already managed to take £520 as part of the ongoing procedure to rid him of the curse.

Yesterday, the woman’s defence lawyer accused police investigator Christos Xanthou of not making a proper investigation because no efforts were made to find the money the plaintiff had allegedly paid her.

Xanthou also told the court that Rezvanoglu had initially told them that she had only taken £20 off the 34-year-old but later recanted what she said saying that she never met the 34-year-old.

According to the investigator, she had also refused to answer standard questions upon her arrest, simply saying, ‘I have a headache. Enough questions. Leave me alone’.

Judge Stavros Stavrou ordered the trial to continue on November 15 with State Prosecutor set to call up the 34-year-old man to testify against Rezvanoglu.