The Problem of Sorcery in Papua New Guinea

The men came wielding bush knives. They wanted to avenge a baby girl, who had died the night before. They said she had been killed by a sorcerer’s black magic, and accused a woman who had encountered the baby that morning.

They dragged her out of her house, on the outskirts of Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. They broke her hands, tied them to a pole, and burned her back and her belly with hot metal bars. She survived only because her son alerted the police.

“He saved my life,” said Korai, 33, describing the attack from last June. Her skin was still scarred and one hand bumpy with an ill-fixed bone. She asked to be identified by only her first name over safety concerns.

She said of the baby: “I didn’t kill her. I don’t even know what a sorcerer is.”

Cases like Korai’s are disturbingly common in Papua New Guinea. Though it is hard to know for sure, researchers say that anecdotal evidence suggests such episodes are on the rise in at least parts of the country. They seem to reflect continued widespread belief that evil spirits exist, and that when tragedy strikes, black magic is the cause.