Amnesty International has again started its calls to put an end to the sorcery-related violence that has been taking place in Papua New Guinea. They have started their movement on April 5, 2013 after receiving reports that six women had been tortured with hot irons during an Easter “sacrifice.” The group says that the Papua New Guinea police had been investigating the incidents. However, police in Port Moresby were not able to confirm that an investigation was actually taking place.
This horrific incident has come just a few weeks after a woman who was accused of sorcery was beaten and burned to death by a mob in New Guinea. A report found in The National newspaper stated that six women and a man who were accused of sorcery were tortured and referred to as Easter “sacrifices” in a village in Southern Highlands.
Komape Lap said that he fought with the wild mob and had escaped from them but that he didn’t know what happened to the six women. Two of the women are Komape’s wives and have not been seen since the crime took place. He says that the women’s hands were tied, they were stripped of their clothing and then the mob placed hot irons “into their genitals.”
The authorities in New Guinea are being asked to prevent and punish this type of violence. Amnesty International’s Pacific researcher Kate Schuetze said “the priority must be to find out the fate of the six women.” She went on to say “the perpetrators must also be brought to justice for the abduction and crimes of sexual and other violence, if confirmed.”
In February a young mother was also stripped naked, then doused with gas and set on fire on the main street of a Western Highlands town in the Mount Hagen region in clear view of hundreds of onlookers. In that case, the woman was about 20 and had been accused of making a young boy die. This case gained global attention when photos of the woman’s body burning with a pile of rubbish were published. Kate said “this type of violence is carried out in the Highlands and it is reported regularly.”
Kate stated “the government must take urgent action to prevent any further ‘sorcery’-related violence and must also provide the survivors with support and full access to health and other services.” There have been many other cases of witchcraft and cannibalism in these areas.
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