IT was reported recently that two women were tortured and killed after they were accused of performing witchcraft that led to the death of an army officer.
The assailants cut open the stomach of one elderly woman before burning her body.
The other woman was dragged out of her home and tortured for several hours before she was burnt alive.
The assailants were themselves said to have sought the help of a witchdoctor to identify those allegedly responsible for the officer’s death.
The murder of the two women at Asariyufa village outside Goroka occurred last Feb 1.
A villager who claimed to have witnessed the killings, said the police did not appear keen to resolve the case and that such attitude had encouraged people to take the law into their own hands.
“Retaliation is common,” the man who declined to be identified, said.
Last year, the body of four women were found buried in an old pit toilet.
They had been tortured and buried alive.
The women had been accused of witchcraft in relation to the death of a Correctional Services officer in a car accident.
The discovery of the decomposed bodies was also reported overseas.
In 2003, outside Kundiawa in Simbu, three men were murdered in connection with the death of a senior public servant.
One of them, a village court magistrate, was tied to a vehicle and dragged along the Highlands Highway for several kilometres before he was decapitated.
Another victim was shot and then decapitated.
The third victim, a woman, was tortured with a red-hot iron rod before she was burnt alive in her hut.
Two years ago at Kamaliki near Goroka, two brothers executed their sister who was accused of sorcery.
As a result of judicial sluggishness, witch executions have increasingly become common, often committed by ignorant and marginalised youths.
Under the current legal framework, it is difficult to apprehend perpetrators.
The first difficulty is that such killings are often sanctioned by the community.
People are also reluctant to talk about the killings for fear of reprisals, making prosecution difficult.
No tribal member would dare take the witness box.
The second difficulty with legal prosecution is that the crime of hunting and executing witches is done surreptitiously and swiftly, even at odd hours of the night with the cadaver usually concealed.
The bodies of the victims are thrown into pits such as toilets, fast-flowing rivers or burned in order to disfigure and conceal the remains.
A court generally needs bodily remains as tangible evidence in order to prosecute perpetrators.
Despite the obvious legal impasse, there have been renewed calls to tackle the problem of witch executions.
During the opening of the legal year in Goroka recently, Justice Ellenas Batari condemned witch execution and challenged law-enforcement agencies to impose severe sentences on offenders.
Eastern Highlands police commander Supt Teddy Tei has shown great concern, and personally led a team of police officers to arrest the perpetrators in the Asariyufa incident.
To date, five suspects are behind bars and helping police with their investigations.
Churches should take a unified approach to tackle the issue of witch execution.
The Catholic Ordinary of Kundiawa, Bishop Henk te Maarssen, has promised to excommunicate any members of his congregation involved in witchhunts. His action received the backing of the Archbishop of Port Moresby Sir Brian Barnes.
Other churches should join in the fight.
The Law Reform Commission headed by Kundiawa/Gembogl MP Joe Mek Teine should look seriously into the anti-witchcraft law of 1976 to give it more bite.
One serious legal concern would be to have some human right lawyers attached to public prosecution and be available to assist in witch crime cases.
Along with that, a special police squad should be set up to deal with cases of witch executions.
If Bruce Knauft’s numbers are correct, 500 people are killed each year in connection with sorcery.
This figure shows the seriousness of the problem.
A cause of consternation is that many women organisations in the country are not fighting this evil, because five out of six victims of witchcraft execution are women.
Finally, there is a real need to spend some money and resources to alleviate witch executions.