Marianne Kearney, Cianjur – West Java has been hit by a wave of brutal killings of shamans, with at least 19 suspected sorcerers being killed by enraged mobs in the past three months.

In a case six weeks ago, at least five men hacked to death a 70- year-old woman who was accused by neighbours of being a dukun santet (black shaman). The five men entered Ibu Jumsih Canak's house and quickly severed her head with matchets.

Her crime? She had given fish to a sick neighbour, who died a few weeks later. Several other villagers who came into contact with Mrs Jumsih had either died or become seriously ill. Naturally, Mrs Jumsih was suspected of performing black magic on them.

In another case, a 60-year-old man, blamed for illness in the village, was attacked by a gang with matchets and tools. Nearly all of the killings of the dukun santet have been very 'sadistic', with beheading being the usual cause of death, says Inspector Widodo from Cianjur police station.

However, police believe that most of the accusations of being dukun santet are trumped-up charges. The accused is often a business competitor of another businessman, or a political opponent of someone vying for the position of village head, or sometimes just someone hated by another man because he is richer, says Senior Inspector Agus Nugroho.

Inspector Agus says that while local villagers often join in the killings, most are done by an organised network of dukun killers. For a small fee, as little as one million rupiah (S$200), these gangs will get someone in the village to start accusing the person of being a dukun santet, and when the village believes the accusations, they will perform the killings.

Police say they are investigating 19 dukun murders, but they say there could be dozens more as cases in remote villages are often not reported.

Villagers join in the killing frenzy because they really believe they have a dukun santet in their midst. "They really believe in the soul medicine," said Mr Barnas Canak, the late Ibu Jumsih Canak's son "For example, if there are two people in a quarrel and one of them becomes sick, the sick one will point at the other and say he is the dukun santet."

Anthropologist Anto Ahadiat says this new trend of killing the once-respected dukun santet is occurring partly because during ex-president Suharto's new order, traditional village structures were destroyed and people are starting to forget their culture.

"Who can solve the problems of the village? Not the village head because he's a representative of the new order," he said, adding that with the police's authority waning, villagers are enacting street justice.

In the past, dukun santets were rarely killed. Their magic was usually combated by visiting a stronger dukun to fight off the spell, says the anthropologist.