Father Tries to 'Eat Baby' in Sorcery Ritual

A drug-crazed father in Papua New Guinea has been accused of trying to eat his newborn baby boy in a grisly witchcraft ceremony, a report said Saturday.

Local residents awoke to the baby's screams and chased the man to the police station, where he was detained, Australia's AAP news agency said, quoting police. The baby died of his injuries.

"It is a very disturbing incident," said Sergeant Demas Tapea, police commander in the Western Province town of Tabulil.

"The community is upset, angry but there is also a lot of fear and anxiety because there is a belief in sorcery or witchcraft."

Tapea said the suspect was known to police and had a history of drug problems.

"Locals are saying the man was carrying out a sorcery ritual, or initiation, to become part of some sort of special society," he said.

"The suspect has a long history of drug abuse and we are not surprised something like this has happened. A few years ago, he went crazy in what we believe was due to the effects of drugs."

Belief in witchcraft and sorcery remains strong in the impoverished South Pacific nation, where a spate of murders has been linked to rituals.