PNG’s first ‘glassman’ sorcery conviction: can it ‘stop madness’ of mob justice?

Papua New Guinea’s first ever conviction for sorcery accusation, that led to the killing of a mother-of-five in 2023, may act as a desperately-needed deterrent to mob justice, campaigners and police have said, in a nation where spurious witchcraft accusations driven by petty rivalries can end in grisly murders.

Rich in natural gas, rare timber, gold, and fisheries, Papua New Guinea has become a focal point of international competition in recent years, with Australian and Chinese companies vying for access to its valuable resources.

However, the influx of wealth has also shifted power balances in an overwhelmingly poor and rural society, where communal and tribal violence is surging – including a rise in incidents of Sorcery Accusation-Related Violence (SARV) – as competition for these resources intensifies.

While complete data is scarce, a 2024 United States Institute for Peace report estimates that nearly 700 people have been killed in sorcery-related murders over the past 25 years. These figures were described as “dark numbers” due to insufficient reporting, as villagers often protected each other from investigators, and journalists struggled to access the remote and dangerous regions that were most affected.

Most victims are women, according to the Tribal Foundation non-profit in the nation’s capital, Port Moresby.

Among them was Lorna Sehequ Nicol, 39, who was butchered by a machete-wielding mob in Kumalu Village in Bulolo district in the northeastern province of Morobe in August 2023.