Man accused of sorcery murdered

THE council manager of Onga Waffa LLG in the Markham district, Morobe province,  was stabbed to death last Sunday around 8am.
Morobe provincial police commander Supt Peter Guinness said Jackson Yakutung 32, of Yasuru village, was accused of sorcery and then murdered by his own people.
His body is now at the Angau Memorial Hospital morgue awaiting a post-mortem.
It was heard that Mr Yakutung was killed after a meeting called by a village elder to discuss the death of a youth.
They said the youth was being taken to the Mutzing health centre when he died just after dawn.
When his body was returned to the village, the elder called the meeting.
Police and district administration said the meeting was purposely held to find the killer of the youth.
While an aid post orderly had said that the youth had severe malaria, the village elder argued that it was because of sorcery.
The elder said that since the council manager was not at the meeting, he was the sorcerer.
He then urged the villagers to attack Mr Yakutung.
Six men and a woman have been arrested over the murder and are being held in custody waiting further questioning.
Supt Guinness condemned the actions of the killers and said that “there was no basis for killing anyone on suspicions of sorcery”.
He said the Government, through law enforcing agencies, must “carry out awareness to discourage this sorcery mentality; because many lives were lost due to suspicions of sorcery”.