Kepari Leniata:
Her Legacy lives on.
Ruth Kissam, a native of Enga Province, Papua New Guinea, was forever changed when she decided to act upon a notice she saw at her father’s doctor’s office in May of 2013.
The notice from the local morgue read that a woman’s body who was killed for practicing sorcery was not yet claimed. After investigating, Ruth discovered that the woman was Kepari Leniata.
Ruth was heart broken-hearted.
Columbia World Projects
Columbia University
Please see my previous story regarding the case of Kepari Leniata linked below:
https://medium.com/@bingham1265/kepari-leniata-69e03f396619
Ruth fought hard to claim Kepari’s body as she was not a relative, among other reasons.
Kepari finally was laid to rest with her husband and two children in attendance.
Kepari’s burial plot was lovingly donated by the Rabamiul Parish Catholic Cemetery. The youth from the Warakum AOG Church carefully dug her grave.
Ruth Kissam was always a Human Rights Activist, but this case changed her course for action. It now was clear that Ruth wanted to help women who were accused and brutalized for Sorcery Related Violence, or Sanguma, as it is known in her community.
In 2017, Five years after Kepari was buried, Ruth was sickened to hear that her then six year old daughter was accused of practicing black magic when the girl’s friend developed a very high fever.
Certain men in the community knew of the girl, because they knew of her mother. The belief is that sorcery is passed from the mother to her children, mainly her daughters.
Kepari’s daughter was physically attacked by these men with some sort of sharp, heated object and held for sometime, probably under torture.
Once Ruth got wind of the attack, she enlisted the aid of her friend and activist, Anton Lutz.
Anton, who was physically closer to the situation, negotiated with the would be killers up to 2 hours until he finally secured the girl’s release.
The Huffington Post
Once in his custody, Anton took the girl to Ruth at Mount Hagen, where they admitted her to the hospital. she received the finest care for five days.
According to Ruth, the youngster has had professional counseling to help her deal with the unimaginable pain and grief suffered at such a tender age.
A true blessing has emerged from this horrible tragedy.
Ruth adopted Kepari’s daughter sometime after she was released from the hospital. Ruth’s male relatives loved and treated her with such tender care that she finally felt safe in her new loving, and nurturing environment.
Please listen to the following Thou Shalt Not Suffer: The Witchtrial Podcast episode for more information on current day witch-hunts in Africa:
https://thoushaltnotsuffer.com/2023/01/05/witch-hunting-in-modern-south-africa-with-damon-leff/
