A court in Jammu and Kashmir has awarded a 14-year jail term to a faith healer convicted of engaging in unnatural sex with multiple children.

The chief judicial magistrate of Sopore, Mir Wajahat, had on Monday convicted self-proclaimed faith healer Aijaz Ahmad Sheikh under Section 377 of the Ranbir Penal Code for sexually abusing minors.

On Tuesday, the court handed a jail term of 14 years to Sheikh and slapped a fine of ₹1 lakh on him. The case, which involves systemic abuse of children under the guise of spiritual healing, had shocked Kashmir when it first surfaced nine years ago.

The prosecution had accused Sheikh of manipulating “minor victims by instilling fear of supernatural harm” and “coercing them into repeated unnatural sexual acts”.

“The prosecution has established all ingredients of the offence beyond reasonable doubt…. The defence has failed to create any substantial doubt that would merit an acquittal,” the court order said.