16 Jul 2021

Change in mindset need to overcome PNG sorcery accusations

From , 6:02 am on 16 July 2021

A Papua New Guinea bishop says unscrupulous individuals, seeking money, are driving a surge in sorcery accusations.

In recent years the number of violent moblike attacks on defenceless people, most often women, has grown dramatically with the attackers claiming their victims to be sorcerers.

The Lutheran Church's Bishop Jack Urame says so called prayer warriors, diviners, or glasmen as they are known in in Tok Pisin, manipulate traditional beliefs about the causes of unexplained deaths, to make money.

Don Wiseman asked Bishop Urame if there are more cases of sorcery related violence occurring.

Highlands women attend a funeral for a victim of a sorcery accusation-related attack

Highlands women attend a funeral for a victim of a sorcery accusation-related attack Photo: Supplied