Coconut detained in Maldives suspected of black magic vote rigging

Yep, you read that right.

Well, this is probably the week's most bizzare story.

In the Maldives, a coconut has been detained by police on suspicion of being used in black magic spells to rig the Presidential election on September 7.

Worry, not, though: after careful inspection and consultation with an expert white magician, police have determined the cursed coconut is not of real magical power and is therefore not a cause for concern.

Yep. Local news reports:

"“The police brought a ‘ruqyah’ practitioner (white magician) to examine the coconut, who said it was a fake,” a police source told Minivan News today. “Because it’s a fake the police are not worried,” the source added."

– 'Police summon white magic practitioner to investigate possible cursed coconut'

Now, if you read that carefully, what they've actually said there is this one is a fake, so they're not worried. Which implies...

"“Now the police and school officials are more aware and police are patrolling the school at night, so magicians can’t practice real black magic at the school,” said the Guraidhoo source."

Ah now. Apparently it was known to be fake because the writing inscribed on the fruit's surface was not in Arabic, as it should have been.

According the The Guardian, who first spotted this local story, belief in magic is still widespread in many rural areas of the Maldives.

Original story from Minivannews.com via The Guardian.