Sorcery accusation related violence (SARV)

NCD Taskforce Commander, Mark Mosinakave, says they have a witness willing to go on record and will move forward to apprehend suspects as soon as they verify all information given in.

Mosinakave says his unit will be moving in to bring in the suspects and hold them on attempted murder charges.

Meantime, NCD metropolitan police commander, Perou N'Dranou, has condemned the attack and said that such practices have no place in the city.

"These people are just ignorant bullies preying on the weak," says N’Dranou.

The woman was tortured in Port Moresby over sorcery allegations.

Governor Parkop said it is embarrassing that this behaviour is occurring in the city.

He said some city residents are still backward in their thinking and should lose their right or freedom to live in the city.

When contacted, Governor Parkop said he was reaching his limit in tolerance to these type of behaviour, and will start considering tough measures against such people.

He was happy police intervened but wants the perpetrators arrested and charged.

Duran Farm Housing Project general manager, John Kume, said such practises have happened several times.

The torture of the elderly woman took place on development land earmarked for the Duran Farm Housing Project.

Known as portion 528, the area has been occupied by settlers from various ethnicities.

Kume, who was at the scene of the incident, said it was shocking that such a practise was happening in the city.

Head of the Emergency Department, Dr. Sam Yockopua, confirmed that she was brought in and has been attended to.

Dr Yockopua said the elderly woman sustained scratches and minor cuts to her body after being dragged on the ground. She also suffered a knife wound to the head.

He said she received minor burns which are not life threatening.

The ER Head said the woman will remain at the hospital and receive treatment and psychological support.

She is expected to remain at the hospital until she is in a stable condition.

The attack on the woman, believed to be in her 60s, could have been fatal if it weren’t for quick police intervention.

Loop PNG arrived at the scene of the incident at an area known to settlers as ‘Swamp Side’ between the Gerehu to Nine-Mile Road.

It was at the Simbu Block that the incident took place where the victim, from Mul Village in Gumine, was attacked by men after being accused of practising sorcery by her female neighbour, who hails from Marawaka, Goroka, in Eastern Highlands Province.

This resulted in the arrest of two others from the same village, who are now in police custody.

The prime suspect, Simon Pokoi (30) of Warambei village, in the Lelemadih Bupi Chupei LLG, was arrested and charged for causing grievous bodily harm.

The victim of the sorcery accusation related violence, Jeffery Pominis, had his left hand chopped off with a bush knife.

Manus provincial police commander, Chief Inspector David Yapu, said Pominis was chased and attacked by villagers of Warambei.

Human rights judge, Justice David Cannings, said no person should be subjected to this sort of intimidation (sorcery-related violence) or terrible events that are being reported.

Sorcery is a criminal matter, but it can also be a civil matter under human rights.

He made the comment following the recent attempted killing of a 6-year-old girl in a sorcery accusation related violence (SARV) incident.

“It is saddening to see that a six-year-old girl was brutally attacked as a ‘sanguma girl’. Thank God she is alive and recuperating.”

He said there are reports from many parts of Papua New Guinea of sorcery or sanguma related accusations, tortures and killings. The accused are often women who are vulnerable and defenseless.

PM Peter O’Neill said police had been dispatched to investigate the abuse, and any individual who tries to impede the lawful investigation will be arrested.

He stresses such attacks cannot be tolerated and the abusers must be exposed, and this requires leadership from community elders.

“Let’s be clear, sanguma beliefs are absolute rubbish,” the Prime Minister said.

“In the modern day, sanguma is not a real cultural practice, it is a false belief and involves the violent abuse and torture of women and girls by pathetic and perverted individuals.

The researcher from the Australian National University is currently doing a four-year major research, partnering with the National Research Institute.

“There are anxieties about sorcery in many parts of Papua New Guinea. But often people can find non-violent ways of dealing with those anxieties,” she shared in an open forum on sorcery accusation related violence yesterday.

She said the second important response is to try to reverse the motivations of those who are involved as violent perpetrators.