If you thought witch hunts were a thing of the past, then think again! Media outlets are reporting that witch hunts are taking the tiny island nation of Papua New Guinea by a storm and the Papua witch hunts have one root cause: jealousy.
The Papua witch hunts began when mobs of men reportedly stormed the home of Helen Rumbali and her three female relatives with guns, machetes and axes, setting her building on fire. The women, who were accused of witchcraft, were taken to a secondary location to be tortured. Rumbali's older sister and two teenage nieces were released after being slashed with knives repeatedly, after negotiations with the police.
The assailants behind the Papua witch hunts claim to have clear evidence that Rumbali is a witch and she used sorcery to kill a villager in a neighboring village, as his grave had marks of black magic and swarm of fire flies. Rumbali, a former schoolteacher, was beheaded.
Papua witch hunts are tragically an increasing problem in the country, as it has been causing a great deal of violence in the tribal society. The ruthless actions are changes the country is seeing now, and experts state that this kind of behavior was never seen before in the farm-centric nation. The country is made up of 7 million people with a great deal of diversity, as the nation has more than 800 languages.
The Papua witch hunts have been documented by the United Nations, which reveals that there have been hundreds of cases in the recent years. The United Nations believes the quantitative estimates of the Papua witch hunts are low-ball estimates as many cases have gone unreported.
In fact, the Papua witch hunts were technically legal until last month as the country's Sorcery Act allowed "belief in black magic" to be used as a legal defense in killing an individual. The government has repealed the law in response to the Papua witch hunts.
"There's no doubt that there are really genuine beliefs there and in some circumstances that is what is motivating people: the belief that if they don't kill this person, then this person is going to continue to bring death and misfortune and sickness on their village," said Miranda Forsyth, a lawyer at Australian National University who has studied the issue, in regards to the Papua witch hunts.
There is no reason for the sudden emergence of the Papua witch hunts and government officials are baffled at the rising occurence of witch hunts. That said, many government officials are stating that the Papua witch hunts are not truly derived from a genuine belief in witches and black magic. Instead, the officials believe the Papua witch hunts are rising from economic jealousy by those who have less than their neighbors and friends.
"Jealousy is causing a lot of hatred," said Helen Hakena, chairwoman of the North Bougainville Human Rights Committee, which is based in the area Rumbali was killed, to NBC about the Papua witch hunts. "People who are so jealous of those who are doing well in life, they resort to what our people believe in, sorcery, to kill them, to stop them continuing their own development."
Hakena added that the accusation of witchcraft against Rumbali was merely a ruse since Rumbali's husband and son had government jobs and a "permanent house" made of food. The jealousy of the villagers is rooted in her family having tertiary education and relatively high social standing.
"That was definitely a case of jealousy because her family is really quite well off," Hakena said of the Papua witch hunts.
Forsyth's opinion on the Papua witch hunts echo that of Hakena, as she believes that the wealthy are being victimized by their poorer neighbors under the pretext of black magic. While the Papua witch hunts are rooted in jealousy, the deeper cause is the inequality in wealth in the nation.
Papua New Guinea is one of the fastest growing economies due to their mineral resources and natural gas, seeing a 7 percent growth each year since 2007. But until that wealth is spread equally amongst the people of the country, the Papua witch hunts have a high probability of continuing.
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