Stephen Tari called himself ‘the true Christ’ and had previously been accused of raping, murdering and eating young girls
John Hall
The Independant
September 1, 2013
The leader of a vicious cannibal rape cult has been hacked to death in the jungles of Papua New Guinea after he escaped from prison and murdered a local woman.
Preacher Stephen Tari, whose 6,000-strong sect called him “the true Christ” and refereed to themselves as “flower girls” or “disciples”, had been serving a lengthy jail term after being convicted of a brutal rape three years ago.
The 40-year-old, who had previously been accused of raping, murdering and eating three girls in front of their traumatised mothers, was one of 48 prisoners to break-out of a remote jungle prison six months ago.
The charismatic cult leader, who wore white robes and is said to have regularly drunk the blood of his “flower girls”, quickly returned to his home village of Gal after the escape, but could only manage six months before killing yet again.
After killing one woman and attempting to murder another, the inhabitants of the village, which is in Madang province, are said to have finally snapped, surrounding Tari and one of his henchmen and hacking the pair to death.
It has not yet been established if the murdered woman was killed as part of a blood sacrifice, but it is considered likely as Tari was said to have been attempting to resurrect his cult following the spell in prison.