In today's news is a story about a woman in Papua New Guinea who was bound, gagged, tied to a log and burnt alive because she was accused of witchcraft. Scapegoating typically takes place when someone is accused to be the reason for someone else's, or her community's, misfortunes. In many cases, if not most, the scapegoatee is a woman.
In Papua New Guinea, the coroner has reported that last year, over 50 people were killed because they were accused of witchcraft.
The article cites this horrifying account:
In a well-publicized case last year, a pregnant woman gave birth to a baby girl while struggling to free herself from a tree. Villagers had dragged the woman from her house and hung her from the tree, accusing her of sorcery after her neighbor suddenly died.She and the baby survived, according to media reports.
The most telling part of this story lies in the following quote:
In recent years, as AIDS has taken a toll in the nation of 6.7 million people, villagers have blamed suspected witches -- and not the virus -- for the deaths.
According to the United Nations, Papua New Guinea accounts for 90 percent of the Pacific region's HIV cases and is one of four Asia-Pacific countries with an epidemic.
"We've had a number of cases where people were killed because they were accused of spreading HIV or AIDS," Mauba said.
When people are desperate, they will do some crazy things, including torturing and killing people.
Where have we seen this before?
0 comments:
Post a Comment