A farmer has been sentenced to one-and-a-half years in prison for illegally detaining a mentally ill woman he believed was psychic and therefore able to predict winning lottery numbers for him, reports Shantou Special Zone Evening News.

Li Bogua, a farmer in Chaoyang, had been placing underground Mark Six bets since 2001. Last year, he heard of a "sorceress" in a neighbouring town.

He forced the mentally ill woman onto a motorcycle and drove her to a shed in his orchard last November. She was kept prisoner there and instructed to advise him of the winning numbers before every draw.

The woman was finally rescued after village officials discovered she was being held against her will in June. She was found to be suffering from malnutrition.

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