Court jails teenager who says a jinn made him kill his father

An American teenager who said he was possessed by a jinn that told him to kill his father with a fire extinguisher has been locked up for three years.

SHARJAH // An American teenager said he was possessed by a jinn that told him to kill his father with a fire extinguisher.

The youth, 18, was receiving psychiatric treatment when he was arrested in November last year after his father’s body was found in Al Mahata.

The teenager acted strangely during questioning, telling prosecutors he was possessed by a jinn.

Earlier, his uncle told Sharjah Criminal Court he had found his brother’s body at his office.

“When I entered the office I saw my brother’s body in a pool of blood and saw bruises on his head and face,” he said.

He said he saw his nephew on the lower floor of the building and the teenager rushed to where his father’s body lay.

“He told me he wanted to save his father and rushed upstairs,” the uncle said. “I followed him and saw him kiss his father’s head.”

The young man asked his uncle to hit him with a fire extinguisher, as he had done to his father. He then produced a small knife and asked his uncle to stab him with it.

A police officer said the teen had told him he killed his father but “was acting in weird way and didn’t seem rational to me”.

The young man’s family had signed a waiver of the charges against him and Sharjah Prosecution sent him for psychological evaluation before sentencing.

He was jailed for three years to be followed by deportation.