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File photo of UN headquarters, New York. Eye Ubiquitous/Press Association Images
Papua New Guinea
UN decries case of woman burned alive for sorcery
Villagers claimed 20-year-old killed a boy through witchcraft.
12.58pm, 8 Feb 2013
7.8k
10
THE UN’s RIGHTS body expressed deep concern today over the case of a young mother burned alive by a crowd accusing her of sorcery in Papua New Guinea.
“We note with great concern that this case adds to the growing pattern of vigilante attacks and killings of persons accused of sorcery in Papua New Guinea,” said Cecile Pouilly, a spokeswoman for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Kepari Leniata, 20, was reportedly stripped naked, tortured with a branding iron and tied up, splashed with fuel and set alight on a pile of rubbish topped with car tyres, while a crowd that included school children looked on.
According to news reports, she was torched Wednesday in Mount Hagen by villagers who claimed she killed a six-year-old boy through sorcery, with police outnumbered by onlookers and unable to intervene.
“We urge the government to put an end to these crimes and to bring perpetrators of attacks and killings to justice through thorough, prompt and impartial investigations in accordance with international law,” Pouilly said.
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The UN agency also asked that authorities “demonstrate their political will” by educating the public to prevent more attacks and by providing protection to people accused of sorcery.
“In light of the heinous crime which has been committed, we encourage the authorities to hasten the process to strengthen the legal response to such killings,” Pouilly said.
The agency also said authorities should “provide medical and psychosocial treatment for victims”.
There is widespread belief in sorcery in the poverty-stricken Pacific nation where many people do not accept natural causes as an explanation for misfortune, illness, accidents and death.
There have been several other cases of witchcraft and cannibalism in PNG in recent years.
“Gunmen opened fire on a five-year-old girl in front of her home in Muqdadiyah. She died immediately.”
What sort of sick and twisted person do you have to be to decide upon seeing a 5 year old girl – “Hey, let’s riddle her with bullets!”. I know because it’s not in our back garden, the general population is generally detached from the mindless slaughter in the middle east – But this is just horrific. Every single day people are being killed for the most absurd of reasons. The worst thing is, we are ultimately powerless to do anything to stop it. It’s tribal to it’s very core.
Bunch of savages who do not respect life, and the ordinary Iraqi civilian has to pay for it.
Let’s take a moment out of our day to at least acknowledge the death of this girl.
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