A
convicted rapist and cult leader known as Black Jesus, who was accused
of murdering three girls and then eating their flesh and drinking their
blood, has escaped from jail with 48 other prisoners.
A
huge manhunt is underway in Papua New Guinea's jungles for Stephen Tari
and the other inmates, who broke out of prison in Madang in the north
of the country while a guard changed shift.
Police
have warned that some of the escapees are very dangerous and stressed
officers are working 'around the clock' to catch them.
Tari,
40, a failed Bible class student, called himself Black Jesus as he
travelled through the highland jungles in 2006, gathering thousands of
disciples who moved with him, following his instructions to increase his
'flock'.
But he was also accused of raping three young girls, murdering them and then drinking their blood and eating their flesh.
Villagers eventually captured him in March 2007, beat him into unconsciousness, tied him up and handed him over to police.
In
2010 he was convicted of four counts of rape but was not charged with
murder due to lack of evidence, despite protests by the relatives of
three dead girls.
Now
the enigmatic figure, who wore long white robes as he stood on a rock
in a jungle clearing and preached his own gospel to his disciples, has
sparked fears that he plans to look for new followers with his escape.
'The guard left his tower,' PNG Correction Service’s spokesman Richard Mandui told Radio Australia today.
'While the shift was taking place, the detainees used a tool to cut through a fence and they left for freedom.'
'We’re
working around the clock to find Stephen Tari and the other men,' said
Madang’s Acting Provincial Police Commander Inspector Jacob Bando.
During
his days of freedom he gathered more than six thousand disciples by
telling them they would recieve gifts from heaven if they followed him.
But
jungle communities were horrified to be told that Stephen Tari had
sacrificed three young women, drinking their blood and eating their
flesh as part of his bizarre religious ceremonies.
In
one case, a mother who had fallen under his influence, drank her
daughter’s blood, according to relatives who the Daily Mail spoke to at
the time. He gradually became a figure of fear.
Tari was eventually captured in the small village of Matapi, a seven-hour walk from the nearest road.
Church
pastor Paul Makura said it had been difficult for police to catch Tari
as he never stayed for long in one place and was always warned by his
disciples when police were in the area.
When he turned up in Matapi villa, frightened villagers pounced on him while he was sleeping in a hut and tied him up.
Messages were passed through villages until one man with a mobile phone was able to get a call to police in the town of Madang.
Heavily-armed officers found the badly-beaten Tari tied to a makeshift stretcher when they arrived in the village.
There
was no sign of Black Jesus’ bow-and-arrow bodyguards who on an earlier
occasion when Tari escaped had engaged in a fight to the death with
police.
Now
police are hoping that with the notorious Black Jesus on the run once
again they will be able to recapture him before he gets another cult up
and running.
Source: Dailymail
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