Twenty-nine members of an alleged cannibal cult have been arrested in Papua, New Guinea, for allegedly hunting, killing, and eating at least seven sorcerers, police revealed today. They allegedly ate their victims' brains raw and made a soup from their penises, the AFP reports. The gang was part of a 1,000-strong group formed to combat sorcerers who were demanding sex as payment for their services, in addition to exorbitant fees. Most charged around $475, plus a pig and bag of rice.
"It's against our traditional ethics and morals for a sorcerer to have intercourse with a man's wife or teenage daughter," explained one cult leader. "That was the main cause of frustration that led to the forming of a group to hunt down the sorcerers." A local expert says sorcerer hunters are a tradition in Papua New Guinea. "But these people never kill sorcerers in broad daylight, mutilate, and eat sorcerers' flesh … or make soup from the penis," the expert said. "This is insane." (More Papua New Guinea stories.)