Review sorcery law

I SUPPORT the letter written by Paulpes from 10-Mile, Lae in The National on Feb 11 that the Government should review the sorcery law.
I agree with his suggestion to review the law passed by the Government to prevent alleged sorcerers and witches from being tortured and killed.
I come from a village where sorcery practice is real and I have seen it with my own eyes and felt its presence.
Many people have been killed by sorcery and the Government did nothing about it.
Sorcery was practiced in my village in the past to prevent land disputes.
It was used as a defensive tool to prevent rival tribes from attacking because land grabbing by tribal attack was common at that time.
However, the purpose of using sorcery as a defensive tool has changed as the population in the villages increase.
Due to disputes over land and resources, the sorcerers now kill people to grab their land and resources.
As time passed, people got educated, employed, started businesses and jealousy increased.
Sorcerers are now hired to kill public servants, businessmen and bright students.
Many people have fled their homes to settle in towns and cities.
As a result, the population rate in the cities and towns doubled.
People didn’t come to towns and cities for the bright lights.
The main reason behind the rural to urban drift is because of sorcery.
Sorcery is a push factor behind the movement of people from rural to urban areas.
When people live in towns and cities for more than 10 years, they are no longer welcomed and accepted in the village anymore.
Their portion of land is being claimed by someone in the village.
When they try to reclaim their land, it usually results in land disputes and sorcery related killings.
People are scared to live in the villages and settle in settlements, contributing to issues such as high unemployment rate, street vending and petty crimes.
Street vendors engage in informal businesses such as selling betel nuts, marijuana, homebrew and cigarettes.
Betel nut husks and cigarette butts are main contributors of rubbish in the cities.
Betel nut spittle leaves permanent stains on public places that make the environment filthy.

Yengz Raingz Muno,
UPNG