An Italian politician who made headlines last year for calling a black minister an orangutan is now saying he has been cursed, according to The Telegraph UK.
Former Northern League Party minister, Roberto Calderoli, said last July, "I love animals - bears and wolves, as everyone knows - but when I see the pictures of Kyenge I cannot think of, even if I'm not saying she is one, the features of an orangutan," in reference to Italy's first black minister, Cecile Kyenge.
But now after insulting Kyenge, Calderoli is begging for his "curse" to be lifted.
And who is Calderoli blaming for his voodoo? None other than Kyenge's father, who lives in the Republic of Congo.
But why would Calderoli accuse Kyenge's father of such a thing?
It all started when Kyenge's father, Clement Kikoko Kyenge, asked God to free Calderoli from evil thoughts last year and placed a photo of him in an altar and dedicated it to the ancestors of the village, according to the Telegraph.
But since then, a black cloud has hung over Calderoli.
Calderoli says after the ceremony, he has had six operations, his mother has died, he has broken two fingers and has broken two vertebrae. He also tweeted a photo of a 6-foot-long snake he found in his house this month that he had to kill.
But that's not all.
Calderoli told Oggi Magazine that friends had given him a charm for protection in the shape of a red chili pepper, which is believed to ward off evil spirits. But after only a day, the lucky charm snapped in half.
He also claims a mystic "saw a tremendous force active around me."
It has gotten so bad, Calderoli is even contemplating seeking the Pope's advice on an exorcist.
"I don't know if I should put an advert in the paper or call [Pope Francis] directly, but I must absolutely find an exorcist," Calderoli tweeted according to the Telegraph.
But according to Kyenge's father, he didn't place any curse on Calderoli.
"We are Christians like him, we have forgiven him and our prayer was only meant to encourage him to make statements befitting his role," Clement Kikoko Kyenge said.
Likewise, Cecile Kyenge, who has lived in Italy since the early 1980s and who is an Italian citizen, thinks the "curse" claim is nonsense.
"I ask myself what religion ... Calderoli practices," Kyenge told the Telegraph. "I am Catholic and therefore do not believe in many other practices and rites, and I don't agree with his statements, which I consider irreligious."
However, there is one speculation of how the curse got put on Calderoli.
Clement Kyenge said if Calderoli was sincere in his apology, nothing would have happened to him. But if he had not been sincere, "the ancestors [might've] become nervous," he said.
Calderoli is currently facing prosecution for his racist remarks.
