Woman accused of sorcery reportedly hacked to death in Papua New Guinea
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Version 0 of 1. A woman accused of sorcery for the second time has been hacked to death just months after she was saved from “death row” in a remote village in Papua New Guinea. The woman, known as Mifila, was killed last week, allegedly “chopped” to death by a number of attackers from another village a week’s trek away through the highlands jungle. Related: PNG women accused of sorcery saved from murder in remote village “There was no evidence, literally nothing,” the deputy police commander of Enga province, Epenes Nili, said. Mifila was among a group of four women who had been accused of witchcraft following the death from measles of several villagers in January. Nili was part of a delegation which flew into the village, staging an intervention and rescue, which at the time was hailed as a resounding success. Nili told Guardian Australia he received a report of Mifila’s murder on Wednesday. “The lady, she was accused of performing magic resulting in the death of several people in the village,” Nili told Guardian Australia. “With this total lie, just because of the strong belief in [sorcery] there, she was murdered. Not by a relative but by another group of people.” Nili vowed to “send in the troops” to apprehend those who murdered Mifila. “I was so frustrated and so angry at what really happened, I am now compiling a full report. What I will be doing is asking everyone to make a submission and request to the parliamentarians and the leaders if they can fund my trip to fly in about 10-12 policemen including a medical doctor to exhume the body and conduct a post-mortem and immediately arrest the suspects, those who are aiding the suspects and those who took part in the murder of [Mifila].” He said his investigation would also establish if there was any involvement by a spiritual diviner – known as a “glass woman” – who had stood before the village at the January intervention and admitted she lied about the “guilt” of people accused of sorcery, in order to get money. Amnesty International said the case highlighted the “persistent failure” by the PNG government to address sorcery related acts of violence. The PNG government is slowly pushing sorcery-related legislation, but a law which provided a defence to violence if it was done to “stop witchcraft” was only repealed in 2013. “The government must act immediately to ensure that the perpetrators of such attacks are brought to justice,” said Kate Schuetze, Amnesty International’s Pacific researcher, in a statement. She said two other women “narrowly escaped death” last week and remain at risk. Last month four people in the village of Kaiwe, near Mount Hagen, were accused of sorcery and allegedly tortured by other villagers. Two women were allegedly taken by drunken youths and tortured until they gave up the names of two men. The four were accused of witchcraft and tortured, before family and police intervened. One woman went back to her home community, but fears remained for the other three, particular the young woman. On Wednesday, Kamane Wauga, senior program officer in the PNG highlands for Oxfam, told Guardian Australia all four accused were now in their own communities and “currently safe” but would not be able to return to the village where they were accused. He said a glass man – who the community had agreed to wait for to judge the “guilt” of the four accused – had not arrived to perform his divining, and police had intervened to free the accused and allow them back to the village. Family members still hoped to have an investigation into the alleged torture. |