To Eat or To be Eaten — 5 Countries Where Cannibalism Still Exist
It Is Incredible How A Human Body Is Capable Of Digesting Another Human.
When you first hear the word cannibalism, your first thought is probably full of disgust and can make you throw up. Due to the heinous nature of the act, it creates fear as well as disgust within us. After all, once you think about it, what sort of desperation must one have to eat a fellow human?
Many of us, have probably seen the hit horror movie Alive, in case you haven’t, let me give you a quick rundown of what happens. A soccer team gets stranded after their plane crashes, and once they run out of food and supplies, they turn towards cannibalism. The movie proves that, if cannibalism is the only way of survival, no matter how grossed out a person is, there is a very high chance that they will commit the act.
Can We Digest Fellow Humans?
Cutting right to it, yes, human meat is digestible by humans; in fact, it is very similar to how normal meat is digested. While our meat does contain the essential fats and nutrients, we do not pack the same amount of nutrition as meat obtained from other sources.
The average Kilogram of human meat has 1400 Calories and lacks some of the vitamins that we need, compared to that, meat from a boar or a bear has a whopping 4000 calories per kg. It doesn’t really make sense, to eat another human, at least not when you consider nutrition, but it surely can be done. Moving forward, let’s talk about 5 places where cannibalism still exists.
The Ganges River, India
There could be a lot of reasons, why a person practices cannibalism; one of them is worship. The Aghori monks found in India eat human meat to gain spiritual enlightenment. They drink and eat from utensils made from human bones and often cover themselves with human remains.
If you do disregard, the inhumane act of eating a dead person's remains, at least these monks don’t kill the people they eat. They eat people who have already died. In the 21st century, not a lot of them exist; in-fact there are only around 20–30 of them left, at their peak; the tribe boasted numbers in 100’s. But lately they have been exiled, and their count has dwindled. Their main goal is to reach enlightenment, and often times they meditate upon corpses, in search of it.
Miami, Florida
Rody Eugene, was a homeless man in Miami. After ingesting some bath salts, Eugene lost control of his rationality and attacked another homeless man, Ronald Poppo. The attack took place during broad daylight, on the sidewalk of a busy road.
Eugene had started eating the face of his victim; he had eaten the nose, mouth, and most of the forehead when the police got to him and had to shoot him in order for the man to stop. The authorities banned the chemicals that caused such behavior, but the attacks never stopped in the area.
Papua New Guinea
Along the banks of the Ndeiram Kabur River, resides a tribe of 4000 people that still practice cannibalism in rituals up to this day. The Korowai tribe practices this act as a form of criminal justice, where they cannibalize the person they suspect of witchcraft, also known as a khakua. The movie, Lords of the Gardens, was also inspired by this.
Paul, went to the Korowai to live with them, in order to get a better insight into their acts. According to Paul, the Korowai put him through a trial, where he was offered human meat, and the condition of his stay was that he had to eat the meat. Paul ended up eating the meat and was allowed to stay.
Rotenberg, Germany
Arwin Meiwes, gave way to his cannibal desires, by posting an advertisement on the internet in order to get someone to meet up with. 43 years old Bernd Brandes, answered the call. The two met up and then Arwin ended up killing the 43-year-old, but he did not stop there. He recorded the act of slicing the helpless man and storing huge chunks of him in the freezer.
For the next 10 months, he admittedly ate parts of the stored body by cooking them in olive oil and garlic. He ended up carving around 65lbs and ate a whopping 55lbs over the course of 10 months. His urges and cravings were not satisfied with meat alone, and on several occasions, he tried to turn the leftover bones into flour. When meat became scarce, he turned to the internet in order to find a new victim.
Liberia, South West Africa
Liberia, during the late 90s and early 2000’s was going through a civil war, where the people revolted against the rising food prices and over-threw the government but there was never lasting peace during that time. Due to expensive food being one of the reasons and a symbolic victory being the other reason, warlords of Liberia, engaged in cannibalism, often eating the hearts of their victims.
Doctors, at the time also reported this bizarre act, but the organizations were unable to do much as it was out of their area of expertise. All of this was kept under wraps. One of the warlords, General Butt, confessed to eating a child’s heart, as part of a ceremony.
Conclusion
Over the course of human history, mankind has often indulged itself, in committing cannibalism, be it for religious ceremonies, superstitions, or revenge. While human meat, is edible and digestible; it is an act of sheer depravity and is highly condemnable.
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