The Tribal Foundation warned a recent parliamentary enquiry into gender-based violence in PNG they were partly responsible for spreading sorcery into new areas. She said she believed disenfranchisement among people who were unable to get adequate healthcare and left school with no jobs to go to was contributing to the problem.Īnd increased connectivity in PNG, through new roads and easier travel, has also been attributed with spreading sorcery beliefs into regions where it isn't traditional.Īnother major concern has been the rise of people called glassmen, or glassmeri for women, who claim to be able to identify a witch. While many parts of the country have a long history of belief in sorcery, what concerns authorities is that many recent killings have occurred in regions where there isn't a tradition of witchcraft.Ī shortage of police in PNG can make investigating the cases difficult. The case is one of a string of sorcery-accusation killings across PNG in recent months. There have so far been no arrests in relation to the murder, with police saying suspects have fled into nearby bush and mountains, and fighting between groups in the aftermath has made it difficult to go into the area. Her dismembered body was left beside a road some kilometres away.Ī video of the torture and murder shows a crowd of people watching on. "They did it until 10:00pm and she died eventually." "They hung her up, tied her arms and legs, beat her and started cutting her really badly. "Eventually they got one of the ladies … and tortured her," he said. WARNING: This story contains graphic content that some readers may find upsetting. Sergeant Daniel Olabe from the Hela Police Command alleges the boy's father and others led their tribesmen to where the women were selling baked flour in a local market. When a young boy died suddenly in Tatape Village in Papua New Guinea's highlands, his relatives said dark forces were at work.įour women were accused of using sanguma - a local term for sorcery or witchcraft - to kill the child.
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