Accused sorcerer tortured

POLICE say a 48-year-old woman from Asaro village in Eastern Highlands accused of practising sorcery was tortured by villagers from the Wili tribe in Dei district, Western Highlands.
Police commander Chief Inspector Jacob Kamiak said the woman suffered server burns during the attack last Thursday.
Kamiak said the villagers had accused the woman of causing the death of a man through sorcery.
A police officer accompanied by auxiliary policemen took the woman to the Mt Hagen General Hospital where she is now recovering.
The woman is married to a man from Dei district and lives at Kotna village.
Kamiak said officers from the Criminal and Investigation Division were investigating the matter.
In most such cases which occurred in the villages, he said people were reluctant to come forward with information on the perpetrators. He condemned such action saying sorcery-related cases needed evidence to send a suspect to court.
“They have to come up with facts and figures and not to assume that one is a sorcerer,” Kamiak said.