Modern-Day Witch Hunts Target Men

Witchcraft accusations and the subsequent attacks on the accused have plagued communities in Papua New Guinea for years. 

A type of violence usually committed against women has increasingly targeted men.

Speaking with Live Science, Anthropologist Dan Jorgensen of the University of Western Ontario described seven cases that involved the killings, beatings and gruesome torture of male victims. The cases, which occurred near the village of Telefomin, which he said may hold clues to the roots of violence.

In the new report, Jorgensen said six cases of male victims are between ages 35 and 65, and one case of an attack on a 16-year-old boy. Three of the victims were killed in the attacks.

One of the survivors, Thomas (not his real name), a deacon in his 60s from the nearby village of Talavip, was passing through that area with his two sons when he was assaulted.(Jorgensen used pseudonyms for all the victims mentioned in the report to protect their identities.)

"They beat me and my sons with iron rods and covered me with [oil]," Thomas told Jorgensen. "One of them lit a match and almost killed me, but someone told him that if he did, he would die, too, so they didn't set fire to me."

Violence related to witchcraft and sorcery allegations in Papua New Guinea has attracted media attention in the last decade, and has even acquired its own acronym: SRK, for "sorcery-related killing." 

The violence  In February 2013, a young mother was publicly tortured and burned alive; in April 2013, a retired female schoolteacher was tortured and publicly beheaded. The government reacted by introducing legislation to punish the perpetrators of such crimes. 

Jorgensen reports, the violence against men in Telefomin may not stem from old beliefs about witches. But the perpetrators are believed to be a group of young men who dropped out of school and remain unemployed. The locals refer to these men as "the Boys."

A conflict between the Boys and the community — triggered by the lack of educational or economic opportunities and likely fueled by their drug use — may instead be the real reason behind the attacks.

Pack up guys! Let's go Damsels Hunting in Brazil

Noiva do Cordeiro, Brazil is a scenic rural town in the hills outside of Belo Horizante inhabited and governed almost entirely by women. Its population consisting of more than 600 mostly single women aged 20 to 25. Sons are sent away at 18, and spouses are banned from the town except on weekends.

The women have made an appeal to bring more single men to the town. But there's one caveat: Men have to follow their rules, from town planning to farming, religion, and more.

The motivation for the way the town is set up is a direct result of its history: The town was founded in 1891 by Maria Senhorinha de Lima, who had been excommunicated as an adultress after leaving a man she had been forced to marry. Over time, she was joined by other single women and female-headed families, and the insular society came into being.

Culture: The Eerie Smoked Corpses of Papua New Guinea

Mummification is not a burial practice only for the ancient Egyptians. The Anga tribe of Papua New Guinea’s Morobe Highlands have practiced a unique mummification technique – smoke curing, were the dead are smoked, and placed on steep cliffs, so that they overlook the village below. 

As the highest form of respect for the dead, the process is carried out carefully and thoroughly by experienced embalmers. At first, the knees, elbows and feet of the corpse are slit, and the body fat is drained completely. Then, hollowed-out bamboo poles are jabbed into the dead person’s guts, and the drippings are collected. These drippings are smeared into the hair and skin of living relatives. Through this ritual, the strength of the deceased is believed to be transferred to the living. The leftover liquid is saved for later use as cooking oil.

In the next stage, the corpse’s eyes, mouth and anus are sewn shut, in order to reduce air intake and prevent the rotting of the flesh. This is believed to be the key step that ensures the mummies are perfectly preserved for centuries ahead. The soles of the feet, the tongue, and the palms are also sliced off and presented to the surviving spouse. The remains of the corpse are then tossed into a communal fire pit and smoke cured.

Once thoroughly smoked, the mummy is coated in clay and red ocher, which act as a natural cocoon, protecting the body from decay and scavengers. Mummies dating back at least 200 years can still be found in the Morobe Highlands today. During celebrations and events, the mummies might be brought down from the cliffs, only to be returned soon after.

A rare honor is bestowed upon dead Anga warriors – they remain guardians of the village, even after death. The warrior mummies are placed on special ‘stations’ on the cliffs; they become ‘watchers’ who continue to protect the village in the afterlife.

The Anga mummification process can be a scary thing for people who don’t understand what the ritual is about. In fact, the curing was banned in 1975, when Papua New Guinea gained its independence. Today, many tribes perform Christian burials, and only a few tribes in remote pockets still prefer to mummify their dead.

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source: vice, oddity central

Would You Live And Work In HELL?

 

Considering your next vacation point that might turn to your exotic destination? Here are list of places you might never have thought about..places called HELL...

1. Hell-Ville: A Town in the Island of Nosy Be, Madagascar.
2. Hell: A Village in Norway. 
3. Hel: Peninsula and city in Poland 
4. Hell: An unincorporated Community in Michigan 
5. Hell's Kitchen: A neighborhood of New York City in the Theater District of Manhattan. 
6. Hell: An abandoned community in Riverside County, California. 
7. Hell: A group of black limestone formations near West bay, Grand Cayman, in the Cayman Islands. 
8. HELL: A place of eternal torment (HADES).

Choose wisely...