Four women were killed following being accused of witchcraft in Papua New Guinea, an impoverished country with high rates of illiteracy where superstitions nest, local media reported Monday.
The Police confirmed that another five women were rescued alive and that they were sent to a hospital to be treated for the injuries caused by the torture to which they were subjected, The National newspaper publishes.
The event took place on Friday in the province of Enga, in a mountainous region in the north of the country, following the death of a local businessman.
The relatives of the deceased rounded up the nine women whom they accused of practicing witchcraft to cause the death of the businessman, the “stripped naked and tortured with hot iron bars”, The acting commander of Enga, George Kakas, told the media.
The Police investigate this brutal aggression and try to identify the torturers and murderers to formulate criminal charges once morest them, the newspaper added.
Papua New Guinea, a country rich in natural resources but where most of its 8.8 million inhabitants live in poverty, attacks once morest people accused of practicing witchcraft or “sanguma”, as it is known in the country.
Papua repealed in 2013 the Witchcraft Law, in force since 1971, which prohibited practicing “black magic or spells to cause harm” and allowed to execute people accused of witchcraft.
Human rights guarantor organizations point out that in many cases women are accused of witchcraft to mask sexist violence.
The Papuan Parliament approved that same year several amendments to the Criminal Code so that the death penalty is applied to punish murders, aggravated or group rapes, or once morest children under 10 years of age.
Until then, capital punishment in Papua New Guinea, where beliefs in black magic and witchcraft run deep, was in place for treason, piracy and premeditated murder, but has not been applied since 1954.
EFE
