Police identify torture suspects of women accused of sorcery

POLICE have identified the suspects who tortured two women in a Sorcery-Related Violence (SRV) in Port Moresby on Tuesday.
Gordon police Family Sexual Violence Unit reported that the women were brought to the police station yesterday by St John Ambulance.
The St John team arrived at the scene, rescued the two and gave them medical treatment.
Police were informed by the women that their abusers were their relatives who accused them of using sorcery to kill a family member recently.
The relatives held the women captive and tortured them for 24 hours.
Police have sent the women to a safe house while they continued with investigations.
Femili PNG operations director Konnie Yoifa said most SRV victims were traumatised and lived in fear after being tortured or abused.
“They refuse to come out to the public even though they are innocent,” she said.
“With the sensitivity, most SRV victims remain silent with mental and physical trauma tormenting them for the rest of their lives,” she added.
Konnie said the disadvantage of social media users posting pictures of victims was that the public tended to criticise the victims whenever they were spotted in the public.
“The victims are always exposed to public discrimination after such exposure,” she said, adding that the two women were now under medication and recovering well.
Meanwhile, National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop said the lack of enforcement of sorcery laws, especially against glasman, had led to unacceptable, bad practices such as the torture of the two woman.
He said there was a need to enforce laws on sorcery, especially on glasman, otherwise it would not stop.
“The laws may have been amended recently by parliament and unless we start enforcing, such practices would not be ruled out,” he said.
Earlier this year, parliament passed the Glassman Bill to address sorcery accusation-related violence (Sarv).