The footage below, reportedly taken in a village of the Enga province of Papua New Guinea, shows four women who have been stripped, tied up, burned and beaten. Several men then prod the women with machetes while hurling questions at them.
One of the women is heard saying: “My son, stop it!” A man replies: “Talk out, where did you put it? Burn her with the wire.” “I’ve got nothing to do with it. I am a mother with five children,” says another woman. Although they repeatedly denied the accusations, it is believed that at least one woman was killed during the ordeal.
According to Human Rights Watch, violence against women in Papua New Guinea is rampant, and often involves charges of sorcery. In February, 2013, a mob in Western Highlands Province accused 20-year-old Kepari Leniata of sorcery after a six-year-old child died in her city. The mob stripped her and burned her to death as a witch. Eight other women reportedly were victims of such attacks during the course of the year.