KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 ― A former Malaysian attache who pleaded guilty to a sex crime in New Zealand has admitted that he believes in black magic, but denied that the had defecated outside the victim's house as part of a ritual to put a spell on her.

According to the New Zealand Herald, Mohammad Rizalman also told a High Court in Wellington, New Zealand that he had bought and smoked cannabis before and that the drugs helped him relax and sleep.

“Do you know of a spell that you can put on a woman to make her fall in love with you by defecating outside her house?” Crown prosecutor Grant Burston asked Rizalman.

“I don't know because I've never practiced it,” Rizalman said in response, according to the report.

The 39-year-old, who admitted to indecently assaulting a Wellington woman Tania Billingsley was reportedly naked waist-down when he knocked on her front door before bursting into her bedroom.

“The reason that you took off your belt and lowered your trousers and underpants outside this young woman's front door, on the patio by her front door, was more about black magic than having to go to the toilet in an emergency?” Burston asked.

“No,” Rizalman said.

He reportedly told a psychiatrist he believed a superior officer had put a spell on him, and that the officer had an uncle who was a shaman.

The ex-attache also told the court that he received mixed signals from the victim, and that he thought she had wanted him to go to her place.

“Not from her speech but from her mannerisms and the way she smiled and the way she behaved.

“In Malaysian custom, if a woman smiles at a man it is deemed that they are happy to know that person,” Rizalman said.

Rizalman was attached to the Malaysian embassy in New Zealand in Wellington when the incident took place last year and when Billingsley’ case made headlines, he escaped back to Malaysia after invoking diplomatic immunity.

He was later on extradited back to New Zealand where he initially pleaded not guilty to attempted rape and burglary charges.

The 39-year-old junior envoy was initially arrested by Kiwi police on May 9 last year on allegations of burglary and sexual assault.

He was charged in a New Zealand court a day later for burglary and assault with intent to commit rape, with both charges carrying the maximum penalty of a 10-year jail term.

Rizalman later invoked diplomatic immunity and was recalled to Malaysia, triggering accusations in New Zealand that he was abusing the privilege to escape punishment.

The case caused an embarrassing public exchange between both nations, before New Zealand backed down after learning that its own officials had led Malaysia to believe Rizalman could be recalled to face punishment here.