Sorcery accusation driven by fear of misfortune: Report

SORCERY accusation-related violence (Sarv) is often driven by suspicion, fear or concern about misfortunes, a study by a group of researchers has shown.
Researchers Miranda Forsyth, Prof Philip Gibbs and Ibolya Losoncz made this finding in the National Research Institute (NRI) spotlight report released yesterday.
The report is titled: “Sorcery accusation related violence in PNG: Characteristics of perpetrators and their accomplices.”
“Most of the violent incidents were committed by larger groups, 34 per cent by groups larger than 20, and 40 per cent by groups of five to 20,” the report stated.
It stated that large groups were especially manifest in Jiwaka, where 64 per cent of violent incidents were committed by groups of 21 to 50 and an additional 17 per cent by groups of larger than 50, and in Enga where 26 per cent of incidents were committed by groups larger than 50.