A report in the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier last week sounds like a Halloween joke but authorities say it's the grotesque reality in parts of the island nation north of Australia, where tribal people still follow traditional practices that, some say, still include cannibalism.
Two boys told local officials on Oct. 9 that they were climbing a coconut tree when they saw a man kill his 3-year-old daughter by biting into her neck, chewing on her flesh and sucking her blood.
The frightened boys ran back to the settlement where they lived and alerted authorities, according to the report, and the man was arrested a short time later.
"Police described the incident as an act of cannibalism by the father, who hails from Finschhafen District of Morobe Province," according to the Post Courier.
The man was arrested and charges of murder and cannibalism were pending, police said.
