Shaman sentenced to jail for undressing woman during ritual

By Chyung Eun-ju

A shaman has been found guilty of sexual assault for undressing a young woman in public during an invocation rite as she wielded a knife.

Busan District Court sentenced the female shaman, 53, to six months’ jail, suspended for two years, and 40 hours of sexual harassment treatment.

Although the shaman was performing a ritual, the court ruled the act was a sexual assault because it went against sexual ethics.

According to the written judgment on Sunday, a woman, aged in her 20s, and her mother went to the shaman because the daughter was feeling pain.

The shaman told the mother, “We have to remove the male spirit that is stuck on her body.” The shaman told the daughter to lie down, removed the woman’s undergarments, and then wielded a large knife around her.

The ritual was performed in front of a crowd that included males, which humiliated the woman

Before the ritual, the shaman asked the woman about her sex life and did not inform her about what would happen during the ritual.

“The victim was humiliated and felt that her sexual freedom was violated,” said judge Yoon Hee-chan. “The act falls under sexual crime law even though it was a shamanic ritual.

“We did take into consideration that the shaman did not have a similar criminal record and that it happened during a ritual.