Pacific

Outrage after PNG girl accused of sorcery and tortured

16:45 pm on 24 November 2017

The director of the Papua New Guinea Tribal Foundation says the recent torture of a six-year-old girl in Enga Province sas horrific and she wants the perpetrators brought to justice.

Photo: 123 RF

Ruth Kissam said because one of the girl's friends had a bad fever, several men had claimed she had used sanguma or sorcery to cause the illness and brutally tortured her.

Ms Kisam said her father first alerted her to the girl's plight and she and a local missionary rescued her.

The girl is now recovering after medical attention for knife and burn wounds on her legs and back.

Ms Kissam said the victim was the daughter of Leniata Kepari who was falsely accused of sorcery and burned to death by a mob in Mount Hagen in 2013.

"We can condemn it in the strongest terms but then we have to back up our words with actions and that is something that still needs to be done and the perpetrators are still not arrested and then that is exactly what happened with the mum and we are living that old nightmare all over again."

Ruth Kissam said accusing a child of sorcery was uncommon.