Two Village councilors in the SHP were arrested and then granted K500 bail after they were found to have aided the 8 suspects in their escape after police learned of their torture of 4 women in the province.
PPC Daniel Yangen stated that both councilors, including the prime suspect, a school teacher in the Paiamo LLG were arrested after both tried to stall police in an attempt to let the other avoid arrest when the police stormed their village to rescue the women.
PPC Yangen is now appealing to the local communities in the neighbouring villages to assist the police in the arrest of the final 8 suspects.
At the moment, police have received reports that all suspects are scattered across a wide area and believe that it will be a challenge to capture them all.
Sorcery related torture of women is slowly creeping into the society in the highlands and the Chief Inspector believes that since the idea of sanguma and sorcery in the region has left a significantly negative impact on their way of life.
“I believe it to be introduced to the highlands and now both Enga and SHP are severely affected by these beliefs causing them to commit these atrocities,” he said.