PNG arrests 320 people for sorcery
From correspondents in Port Morseby
03nov05
POLICE in Papua New Guinea have arrested 320 people for practising sorcery
and religious cults, The National newspaper reported on Thursday.
Belief in sorcery is widespread in this jungle-clad, mountainous South
Pacific island nation where some villages only encountered Western
civilisation in the 1930s.
Police raided three villages on Monday near the city of Lae on the north
coast and arrested leaders of a "cargo cult" and their followers, the
newspaper said. Those arrested were aged between 20 and 70.
Cargo cults believe that Western goods or cargo, first encountered through
missionaries and explorers, are created by ancestral spirits.
They have been known to build airstrips in the jungles in the belief that
planes would land with cargo.
One group led by two women used menses from women as "sacred water" to
enable them to see "invisible things", said the newspaper in the capital,
Port Moresby.
One of the female cult leaders, Malamba Kifea, said the sorcery improved
the livelihood of the people in Kasin village, a remote settlement some
eight hours walk from the main highway.
"We read the Bible and in the book of Leviticus, we found strange
teachings about women and their monthly period," Mr Kifea told The
National.
"We were not sure and did not consult our pastor but kept the secret to
ourselves after having revelations and seeing cargo and money being given
to us."
Another group in Sadau village used skeletons from ancestors to summon
"supernatural powers" to predict the future and bring prosperity.
"We can invoke blessings for protection, hunting, luck and to increase
wealth," said elderly cult leader Erbu Kuriong.
Mr Kuriong said the sorcerers charged for their fortune telling, with the
proceeds used to build a home for the group.
About 80 percent of PNG's 5.4 million population ekes out subsistence
lives in villages.
http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,17127217%255E401,00.html
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