The old woman showing injuries to her hands.
By ROSELYN ELLISON and AILEEN KWARAGU
AN elderly woman was tortured to near death in Gazelle’s Reimber-Livuan in East New Britain in a sorcery-accusation related violence (SARV) in February.
New Guinea Islands commander Assistant Commissioner Perou N’Dranou said police rescued the woman who had been in the hospital until recently where she was kept in an unknown location for her safety.
“We could not investigate immediately due to her traumatised state,” he said.
“She is not communicating with police yet. We are using third parties to communicate with her.”
N’Dranou said the identities of the torturers were known and when the woman and her family members “feel safe”, then they would be helping police in investigations.
“The woman needs an expert to look into her welfare as she is still traumatised,” he said.
“Like all sorcery allegations in Papua New Guinea, the grieving family members of the deceased vented their frustrations on the weakest member of the village.
“In this case, the old woman was tortured.”
An elderly woman from Vunaiting ward in the Ramalmal area of Gazelle’s Reimber-Livuan local level government in East New Britain was tortured by the group of men because they suspected her of practising sorcery.
According to a relative who wish to remain anonymous, the torture occurred in February.
“The torturers forced the woman to confess that she was the one who used sorcery to kill their relative,” the relative said. “The police were alerted and a police unit from Rabaul rescued her.”
In Port Moresby, National Capital District governor Powes Parkop said elected lawmakers must address gender-based violence (GBV) and SARV woes in the country.
“Therefore, political parties and election hopefuls for the coming 2022 general election must state their stand on the grave long-standing social issue that affects communities,” he added.
Speaking in a media conference called by the Papua New Guinea Council of Churches and the Special Parliamentary Committee on GBV yesterday, Parkop said those contesting in election should include addressing GBV and SARV issues as their priority agenda for governance.
He said those elected in the election should not allow themselves to be pushed around in Parliament but instead fight for solutions on challenges faced by communities.
“They should also have a clear understanding of the economic, social, health, youth problems, the infrastructures and human rights issues,” he said.
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