Four men have been killed and another four are in intensive care in Papua New Guinea after a sorcery related attack in Eastern Highlands province during the Easter weekend.
Sorcery-related violence is still a problem in Papua New Guinea Photo: 123RF
The Post Courier reported four mutilated bodies were found in a coffee garden while four men suffering gunshot wounds were in Goroka General Hospital.
The newspaper said a family who were chased away by the eight men two years earlier had returned to their village to allegedly kill those who accused them of sorcery.
It said villagers in the area reported the suspects returned from exile and hired men from other districts in the province to carry out the executions.
The villagers said the eight were shot at point blank range when they came out of their houses in the morning.
Police in the Eastern Highlands said sorcery-related violence in the province was difficult to address because the community did not co-operate with the police.
They said the community was harbouring the suspects and police were working with leaders in Yagaria to arrest them.
This comes as a court trial was due to begin this month in the northern town of Madang where over 100 men are charged with killing seven people - including two children - who they accused of practising sorcery.
Church and civil society workers say sorcery-related attacks have been on the rise in PNG over recent years.
With so few people being held acountable for taking the law into their own hands, there are hopes that the Madang court case may serve as a breakthrough deterrent.
Under-resourced policing and a lack of evidence remain obstacles to cases of sorcery-related attacks reaching PNG's courts.
However PNG's Justice Department is looking at what the quality of evidence needs to be in such cases, to develop a legal system which is able to arrest, prosecute and convict those behind the attacks.