Five members of the Kulina tribe in the Brazilian Amazon are on the run after allegedly killing and eating a farmer in a “ritual act of cannibalism”, reports CNN:
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A city official in the remote Brazilian Amazon village of Envira told CNN that five members of the Kulina tribe are on the run after being accused of murdering, butchering and eating a farmer in a ritual act of cannibalism.
The village’s chief of staff, Maronilton da Silva Clementino, said Kulina tribesmen took the life of Ocelio Alves de Carvalho, 19, last week on the outskirts of Envira, which is in the far western part of Brazil that bumps up against Peru.
Attacks on indigenous groups by ranchers, farmers, and loggers are common in the region.
The Kulina tribesmen apparently escaped the town’s police station after being held a few areas, but no arrest warrants were issued.
CNN notes that “Brazilian law does not allow the military or civil police to enter Indian lands.”
Word of the alleged cannibalism came from the Kulina tribesmen themselves who “bragged about eating the man’s organs”.
According to FUNAI — Brazil’s National Indian Foundation — around 2,500 Kulina live in the state of Acre state. Another 450 live in Peru.
The Kulina are notable for their complex language, which differs between the sexes.
Amazon Indians accused of cannibalizing farmer.