A PNG woman who scattered dried shrubs around the entrance to the PNG's second largest city of Lae courthouse on Tuesday has been jailed for two years for sorcery.
Lae district court magistrate Nasaling Bingtau sent Maheyu Tongo, a mother of four, from Tautai village, Walium, Madang, to jail for using sorcery to harm another person.
The court heard that between 7am and 8am on Tuesday, Tongo came to the courthouse, took the shrubs from her bilum and scattered it outside the courthouse gate.
Tongo had a court case that morning on a family matter involving her daughter-in-law.
The court heard that a girl, who went to hear the case, saw what the accused was doing and reported the matter to the court sheriff.
Tongo was taken to the Lae Top Town police station and charged.
“They had to pour water over the shrubs before removing them,” prosecutor Chris Miria said in court.
Police showed the shrubs packed neatly in a brown manila envelope to Bingtau in court.
Tongo admitted that the substance belonged to her.
Bingtau told the court that Papua New Guinea was a Christian country. People believed in Jesus, God and the Bible and sorcery has no place.
He said the maximum sentence for practising sorcery was eight years imprisonment. He gave Togo two years since she was a first time offender.