(Image source: UN Human Rights Office ) BY KAREN RODRIGUEZ ANCHOR CHRISTIAN BRYANT The burning of a 20-year-old woman accused of being a witch on Wednesday, has once again caught the attention of the United Nations human rights office. The UN has been urging the government of Papua New Guinea to repeal a 1971 law that criminalizes sorcery following similar incidents from last year. “A young woman in Papua New Guinea accused of sorcery and witchcraft over the death of a little boy has been brutally killed by an angry mob. The crowd chased away police who tried to intervene to save the woman.”   According to the International Business Times , Kepari Leniata was stripped, tortured and then burned by a mob of 50 in broad daylight.   But, this is not the first incident of violence towards people accused of sorcery in Papua New Guinea.  UN spokesperson Cecile Pouilly said : “We note with great concern that this case adds to the growing pattern of vigilante attacks and killings of persons accused of sorcery in Papua New Guinea,” Although the sorcery act is in place to punish sorcery but protect the falsely accused, this most recent case underlines a growing problem: citizens taking the law into their own hands by killing those they feel are guilty. Since last year, Dr. Eric Kwa the secretary of New Guinea’s law reform commission, has been trying to get rid of the 1971 law. “Because one of the conclusions that we have now agreed to is that this is a spiritual matter, law cannot deal with spiritual matters. It is very difficult to prove as evidence.” ( Video via Australia Network ) But if the law is removed will citizens stop the violent attacks? Research done by OXFAM New Zealand suggests that because sorcery is ingrained in the culture of New Guinea it may be difficult Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has condemned the actions of the mob that killed Leniata. He told Sky News : “No one commits such a despicable act in the society that all of us, including Kepari, belong to...It is reprehensible that women, the old and the weak in our society, should be targeted for alleged sorcery or wrongdoing that they actually have nothing to do with." Like Leniata’s case, most sorcery related killings are done in rural areas making it difficult to prosecute. Although no arrests have been made, the prime suspect in the case is Leniata’s husband who is on the run.