Papua New Guinea shocked by ‘horrific act of cannibalism’ by machete-wielding men

Troubling images show a gang of men surrounding what appears to be a hacked-off human limb.

Viral images showing a group of bow-and-arrow wielding men dangling mutilated body parts that appears to depict “horrific acts of cannibalism” have sparked outrage in Papua New Guinea.

The front page of the country’s largest newspaper, the Papua New Guinea Post, depicted gruesome scenes from a video of the gang holding what appears to be a severed foot.

While the original video does not film the men eating the body part, one of them appears to make a licking gesture as others smile.

Police Minister Peter Tsiamalili said he was deeply troubled by images that appeared to depict “horrific acts of cannibalism”.

“A violent confrontation between two brothers escalated, leading to a heartbreaking outcome,” he told AFP.

“The conflict saw villagers taking sides, ultimately resulting in the gruesome killing of the elder brother by the younger sibling”, Mr Tsiamalili said in a separate statement dated Sunday, adding that “such barbarity does not define us as a people or a nation”.

“These barbaric actions by a group of youths not only shock our collective conscience but also pose a grave threat to the societal values that bind us as a nation,” he said.

Papua New Guinea has been rocked by the horrific claims. Picture: Post Courier/X

The act has been describe as “inhuman” and “intolerable.” Picture: Post Courier/X

“Such acts of inhumanity are intolerable and represent a significant challenge to our shared humanity.”

The video recently went viral on social media, though the killing occurred “a month ago” in Saki Village, located in the Goilala District in the country’s Central Province.

The incident’s description as a “barbaric killing, mutilation and cannibalism” by the president of the Papua New Guinea law society Hubert Namani has sparked outrage from Goilala’s parliamentary representative Casmiro Aia.

“The office of the President of the PNG Law Society is a noble consitutitional office, and for cannibalism to come out of his mouth, to suggest that Papua New Guineans in the likes of Goilala eat humans leaves a lot to be decided,” Mr Aia said according to a Post Courierreport.

US President Joe Biden made a controversial quip in 2024 about his pilot uncle being eaten by “cannibals” after being shot down into Papua New Guinea. Picture: Saul Loeb/AFP

Outdated tropes of Papua New Guinea have tarred perceptions of the country that paint its people as “savages”.

Historically, cannibalism has been documented among a small number of tribes in remote parts of the country.

United States President Joe Biden last year quipped that his fighter pilot uncle may have been eaten by cannibals after he was shot down during World War II.

“He got shot down in New Guinea, and they never found the body because there used to be a lot of cannibals, for real, in that part of New Guinea,” Mr Biden said.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape later dismissed the gaffe as “loose” talk on the part of the president.

“I’ve met him on four occasions, until today, and on every occasion he’s always had warm regards for Papua New Guinea,” Mr Marape said.

“Never in those moments (has) he spoke of PNG as cannibals,” he added.