An accused witch doctor said to have used sorcery to bring about the death of another man in a remote Papua New Guinea village has been chopped into pieces and his body parts burned to ashes. The gruesome attack on the alleged sorcerer was carried out close to the time when a 20-year-old woman was tortured and burned to death after she was accused of using witchcraft to kill a six-year-old boy. As news of the recent alleged incidents of sorcery has spread through the jungles of the nation lying to the north of Australia, uneducated villagers have been put on their guard and are watching for other witches or witch doctors, say police. Spreading: The gruesome attack on the alleged sorcerer was carried out close to the time when a 20-year-old woman was tortured and burned to death after she was accused of using witchcraft to kill a six-year-old boy . In the latest gruesome incident, a 50-year-old man named as Eriok Tembe, from the village of Tewai-Siassi, in the eastern part of the country, was attacked at his home by a group of people convinced he had used witchcraft to bring about the slow death of another villager. They hacked him to pieces with machetes, said provincial police commander Supt Leo Lamei, and then set his body parts on fire when they applied torches to his hut. ‘He’d argued with other villagers during the day when they accused him of using sorcery to kill another person,’ said Supt Lamei. Still alive: Sorcery and witchcraft are still practiced in remote villages in Papua New Guinea's highlands . Sorcery and witchcraft is widely believed in Papua New Guinea and is commonly practiced in remote villages across the island nation. The cost of a witch doctor revealing a cause of death or casting out an evil spirit is usually 1000 New Guinean kina (£303), plus a pig and a bag of rice, . In 1971, whilst still a colony, the country introduced a Sorcery Act to criminalise the practice. However the law has recently seen a rise in attacks on innocent people accused of black magic, such as that on Miss Leniata, and convictions by ‘kangaroo courts’ made up of of local village elders. As a result the Papua New Guinean law reform commission proposing to repeal the law. Last July, 29 people were arrested accused of black magic and cannibalism after allegedly murdering seven people in order to eat their brains and use their genitals for sorcery rituals. In 2009 a man was hacked to pieces by machetes after a ‘kangaroo court’ convicted him of sorcery. ‘Then during the night, between 3am . and 4am, a number of people went to his home, chopped him up with bush . knives and set his house in fire with his remains inside.’ Police arrived later and in a grim search retrieved the charred remains before delivering them to relatives for burial. ‘The suspects are still at large and we are yet to identify them,’ said the police officer. ‘We condemn these acts and we are using all available resources to bring the suspects to face the law.’ Sorcery is rife through the remote regions of jungle-clad Papua New Guinea, where alleged witches and witch doctors are said to use effigies of their victims and so-called magic chants to bring about the deaths of their enemies and their relatives. Other acts of sorcery include burning something that belongs to the intended victim, which could be a single hair or clothing – and some so-called evil-doers are said to blow contaminated smoke in the direction of their enemies. Mr Tembe died at about the same time as . young mother Kepari Leniata was tortured and burned to death in the . central highlands, 150 miles away, after she was blamed for the death of . a young boy who died in hospital from a stomach illness. Her shocking death made international . headlines, yet the murder was one of scores among the executions of . alleged witches in the country, which is steeped in superstition and . ancient irrational beliefs. Sociologists . say that accusing people of carrying out sorcery and witchcraft is . based on fear and ignorance and international action is needed to spread . ‘modern knowledge’ among remote tribes. Part of the culture: Sorcery and witchcraft is widely believed in Papua New Guinea, which brought in a Sorcery Act to protect against attacks on those accused of practising black magic (file picture) Breaking the law: The criminalisation of sorcery has seen several cases of violent vigilante action against 'witches' and 'sorcerers' in highland villages .
Man, 50, was attacked in the middle of the night in his hut .
'Chopped him with knives and set his house in fire with his remains inside'
Sorcery is rife in the remote regions of jungle-clad Papua New Guinea .
An accused witch doctor said to have used sorcery to bring about the death of another man in a remote Papua New Guinea village has been chopped into pieces and his body parts burned to ashes. The gruesome attack on the alleged sorcerer was carried out close to the time when a 20-year-old woman was tortured and burned to death after she was accused of using witchcraft to kill a six-year-old boy. As news of the recent alleged incidents of sorcery has spread through the jungles of the nation lying to the north of Australia, uneducated villagers have been put on their guard and are watching for other witches or witch doctors, say police. Spreading: The gruesome attack on the alleged sorcerer was carried out close to the time when a 20-year-old woman was tortured and burned to death after she was accused of using witchcraft to kill a six-year-old boy . In the latest gruesome incident, a 50-year-old man named as Eriok Tembe, from the village of Tewai-Siassi, in the eastern part of the country, was attacked at his home by a group of people convinced he had used witchcraft to bring about the slow death of another villager. They hacked him to pieces with machetes, said provincial police commander Supt Leo Lamei, and then set his body parts on fire when they applied torches to his hut. ‘He’d argued with other villagers during the day when they accused him of using sorcery to kill another person,’ said Supt Lamei. Still alive: Sorcery and witchcraft are still practiced in remote villages in Papua New Guinea's highlands . Sorcery and witchcraft is widely believed in Papua New Guinea and is commonly practiced in remote villages across the island nation. The cost of a witch doctor revealing a cause of death or casting out an evil spirit is usually 1000 New Guinean kina (£303), plus a pig and a bag of rice, . In 1971, whilst still a colony, the country introduced a Sorcery Act to criminalise the practice. However the law has recently seen a rise in attacks on innocent people accused of black magic, such as that on Miss Leniata, and convictions by ‘kangaroo courts’ made up of of local village elders. As a result the Papua New Guinean law reform commission proposing to repeal the law. Last July, 29 people were arrested accused of black magic and cannibalism after allegedly murdering seven people in order to eat their brains and use their genitals for sorcery rituals. In 2009 a man was hacked to pieces by machetes after a ‘kangaroo court’ convicted him of sorcery. ‘Then during the night, between 3am . and 4am, a number of people went to his home, chopped him up with bush . knives and set his house in fire with his remains inside.’ Police arrived later and in a grim search retrieved the charred remains before delivering them to relatives for burial. ‘The suspects are still at large and we are yet to identify them,’ said the police officer. ‘We condemn these acts and we are using all available resources to bring the suspects to face the law.’ Sorcery is rife through the remote regions of jungle-clad Papua New Guinea, where alleged witches and witch doctors are said to use effigies of their victims and so-called magic chants to bring about the deaths of their enemies and their relatives. Other acts of sorcery include burning something that belongs to the intended victim, which could be a single hair or clothing – and some so-called evil-doers are said to blow contaminated smoke in the direction of their enemies. Mr Tembe died at about the same time as . young mother Kepari Leniata was tortured and burned to death in the . central highlands, 150 miles away, after she was blamed for the death of . a young boy who died in hospital from a stomach illness. Her shocking death made international . headlines, yet the murder was one of scores among the executions of . alleged witches in the country, which is steeped in superstition and . ancient irrational beliefs. Sociologists . say that accusing people of carrying out sorcery and witchcraft is . based on fear and ignorance and international action is needed to spread . ‘modern knowledge’ among remote tribes. Part of the culture: Sorcery and witchcraft is widely believed in Papua New Guinea, which brought in a Sorcery Act to protect against attacks on those accused of practising black magic (file picture) Breaking the law: The criminalisation of sorcery has seen several cases of violent vigilante action against 'witches' and 'sorcerers' in highland villages .
Papua New Guinea and is commonly practiced in chopped him up with bush . knives and set his house in fire with his remains inside.’ Police suspects to face the law.’ Sorcery is rife through the remote regions of jungle-clad Papua