Scientific approach needed to deal with sorcery cases

The right thing to do is an autopsy to identify the cause of death!

Dr. Lawrence Kalinoe, Secretary, Department of Justice and General said this, in regards to any alleged sorcery deaths. 

His statement was in response to the increasing number of sorcery related deaths in the country.

Secretary Kalinoe emphasized that more educational awareness was needed to drive this message.

He made mention of the Sorcery National Action Plan (SNAP) which stands to identify an organized national response towards sorcery and sorcery related killings.

 “It’s on the part of hospitals, police, social workers, leaders to say where there is death, we quickly take that person to have an autopsy done and find a scientific or medical cause as to why that person died…then we take it from there,” he said.

Secretary Kalinoe said that the idea of sorcery was to do with the mind.

“When we convince ourselves that sorcery is true, it’s difficult to take it away from us, especially being Papua New Guineans as we are.”

SNAP focuses on running awareness programs on sorcery and sorcery related violence throughout the country.

The 10 year action plan was introduced in July 2015.

It stands to break the link between sorcery and violence, and involves a number of government agencies and non-government organizations working closely together in implementing the SNAP.

Author: 
Gloria Bauai