The beggar Fodé appeared this Friday before the Thiès court for flagrant offenses. He is being prosecuted for fraud and quackery, after allegedly swindling a woman out of 5 million CFA francs by posing as a healer.

In court, the defendant admitted to offering mystical treatments to the complainant, while disputing the amount he charged. "She told me she was suffering. I replied that I could heal her by the grace of God. I practice treatments based on the Quran," he stated. Fodé claims to have received only two payments, of 14,000 and 15,000 CFA francs respectively, which he said were intended for the purchase of items used in his practices.

For her part, the victim gave a very different version of events. She explained that she met the accused while he was begging, before confiding in him about her health problems. Seduced by his promises of a cure, she said she went to his home for treatment sessions.

“He gave me a tennis ball, a pump, a calabash, and some amulets, saying they would protect me and improve my situation,” she recounted. The plaintiff claims she gradually lost her judgment and handed over a total of 5 million CFA francs over a period of one year, money that came primarily from a tontine (a type of savings club) she managed.

Only after regaining her composure did she attempt to set a trap for the accused, contacting him under the pretext of seeking further medical treatment. The man, who claimed to be in Casamance, was eventually arrested in Pout.

At the conclusion of the proceedings, the public prosecutor determined that the charges of fraud and quackery had been substantiated. He requested a six-month prison sentence for the defendant.

The defense argued that its client was not a charlatan and that he had never approached the victim to offer her mystical treatments. The lawyer maintained that there was no objective evidence in the case and that the sum claimed by the plaintiff had not been received by the defendant. She therefore pleaded for acquittal.

The court has taken the case under advisement.