Hundreds of bystanders, including many children, watched and some
took photographs of Wednesday’s brutal slaying. Grisly pictures were
published on the front pages of the country’s biggest circulating
newspapers, The National and Post-Courier, while the prime minister,
police and diplomats condemned the killing.
In rural Papua New Guinea, witchcraft is often blamed for unexplained misfortunes. Sorcery has traditionally been countered by sorcery, but responses to sorcery allegations have become increasingly violent in recent years.
The death was the first sorcery-related murder in Papua New Guinea in a year, national police spokesman Dominic Kakas said.
Kepari Leniata, a 20-year-old mother, had been accused of sorcery by relatives of a 6-year-old boy who died in the hospital the day before.
In rural Papua New Guinea, witchcraft is often blamed for unexplained misfortunes. Sorcery has traditionally been countered by sorcery, but responses to sorcery allegations have become increasingly violent in recent years.
The death was the first sorcery-related murder in Papua New Guinea in a year, national police spokesman Dominic Kakas said.
Kepari Leniata, a 20-year-old mother, had been accused of sorcery by relatives of a 6-year-old boy who died in the hospital the day before.
