The Indonesian police believe they have a clear-cut case against Ahmad Suradji. They say he has admitted to killing all 42 of the women whose bodies were dug up around his house in an attempt to increase his magical powers.

According to the police, the sorcerer had a dream nine years ago in which the ghost of his father told him to kill 70 women and drink their saliva. The victims were women who came to him to ask for supernatural help in making themselves richer or more attractive.

It's thought his macabre activities escaped detection because the women were too embarrassed to tell friends and family where they were going. The case received extensive publicity when the bodies were first discovered in May but since then coverage has been restricted to a few lurid articles in tabloid magazines about the sorcerer's sex life.

If he's found guilty, Ahmad Suradji will rank as one of the worst serial killers this century but journalists here say that many Indonesians view his behaviour with a degree of tolerance because he is a traditional sorcerer. Mystical powers are widely believed in throughout Indonesia.