Woman from Chechnya publicly repents for practicing witchcraft

Chechen law enforcers have detained Sheima Makhmueva after her neighbours complained that she was rendering magical services. After her conversation with Adam Elzhurkaev, a theologian, Makhmueva stated that she repented of her engagement in occultism, the "Grozny" TV Channel reports. Some Instagram users have treated the public scolding of the elderly woman as inappropriate.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that since July 2019, Chechen authorities intensified their persecution of residents who provide occult services. There are regular reports on TV, in which local residents repent of practicing witchcraft.

The elderly woman copied conspiracies and rituals from a serial. In her house, they found tools for carrying out rituals with Arabic and Chechen inscriptions mixed with quotations from the Bible, the "Grozny" TV Channel has reported.

In the footage, Makhmueva demonstrated her occult skills. "Sheima Makhmueva showed how she conjures with stones and can even predict the future," the plot says.

The woman has noted that only thanks to Elzhurkaev she realized that she was wrong.

"Well, do you, modern people, believe in the 21st century in some kind of witchcraft and take up time on air for this?" the Instagram user gerdtnikola has asked.

Opponents have demanded to punish Makhmueva and residents who seek help from those practicing occultism.

"If every sorcerer was executed, it seems to me that all sorcerers could be exterminated! Only death penalty can stop these witches," the user love_every_day28 has stated.