PNG Sorcerers burnt alive

Two women accused of sorcery were tortured and burnt to death yesterday morning at Waninga village outside Mt Hagen, Western Highlands province.

Twenty-eight-year-old Thres Hari, from Simbu province who is married with four children, and Pald Pungal, in her 60s, from Nebilyer in Western Highlands who is a grandmother, were accused of using sorcery to kill a young man, Sent Pungal, 28, from the Kungnunga tribe.

The women were forced out of their homes at around 6am yesterday and tied with ropes. Relatives then started inflicting pain on them using sharp objects. They were later dragged bleeding back into their homes, locked in and had fire set to their homes, killing them.

The women were targeted after villagers received news that the young man, who had been admitted to the Mt Hagen General Hospital with an illness, had died. Villagers believed the women, using their magical powers, had removed the heart of the deceased, causing him great pain and eventual death.

They alleged that the women killed him because he refused to give them money to buy food and clothes. All the deceased are related through marriage. The women’s remains including their intestines, limbs and skulls were visible among the charred remains of the burning house when The National visited and took photographs yesterday morning (The National decided not the publish the pictures because they will offend readers).

Sent Pungal is a PMV driver and was hospitalised last Friday after he started experiencing pains all over his body.

Source: Thenational.com