Cannibal Run

When I was a kid, tales of cannibalism seemed like the exotic stuff of King and Empire, with explorers in darkest Africa, or Borneo, or Papua New Guinea .... before these lands were incorporated into the enlightenment of the empire.

Cannibal King?

However of late, cannibalism has made something of a comeback .... firstly in places like the post colonial African states where self styled emperors such as Emperor Bokassa I of Central Africa  aka President Jean Bedel Bokassa of the Central African Republic, who was alleged to indulge in cannibalism (although 'cleared' in a later trial). Bokassa's former cook, claimed to have been ordered to prepare a human corpse stuffed with rice and flambéed in gins for his master (and presumably unsuspecting guests).

Also other less presumptuous leaders such as, "his Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Alhaji Dr. Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, CBE" of Uganda, who was alleged to indulge in cannibalism. Including keeping body parts of enemies in the fridge for those midnight feasts. Was that Halal?

Or perhaps "his Excellency and Unique Miracle, Grand Master of Education, Science, and Culture" President Francisco Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, who was also alleged to indulge in cannibalism. He was a monster who was toppled by another monster ...

Then of course there are the Islamic monsters in Iraq and Syria who are eating their victims as part of the terror and horror that they are inflicting on a region in the name of the their 'peaceful' religion. There have also been cases in Pakistan  .... it seems that cannibalism is not 'haram' enough.

But the story that caught my attention last year was of the Russian lady, Olga Kurochkin, who is suing the men who ate her husband Andrei for emotional distress. She also wants a criminal prosecution brought against them. The men she was suing Alexander Abdullaev, and Alexei Gorulenko, were only survivors of a fishing party that got lost when their jeep sunk in a frozen river in the wastes of Siberia and in bitter temperatures for nearly two months, and who turned to cannibalism to stay alive .... The fishermen had been lost for two months and were eating sawdust, two of the three survivors Abdullaev and Gorulenko said they all ate Andrei after he froze to death.

Not All Cannibals Are Urbane Sophisticates

When rescued, the two men were carrying the head of 44-year-old Mr Kurochkin through the wild, having apparently eaten him piece by piece as they trudged back to civilisation  ..... police are still hunting for the other fisherman Viktor Komaro, who went on the run.

The Siberian Times reported Mrs Kurochkin as saying that 'Can you imagine what I have left? One foot with toes, one finger, and the back of his skull with some hair. This is it. This is all I have left from the man I loved. Having just these remains, how can I say goodbye to him? I have got almost nothing to cry over.'

Apparently Russia has no law on cannibalism, which is why the widow is suing for emotional distress. There has been no suggestion of 'murder' so far, but the whole case is very strange .... I mean even stranger than mere cannibalism because:

• They took refuge in a remote hunting lodge, which they used as a base for a number of weeks, until they exhausted its food supplies.  
• They didn't rush back despite losing their fishing tackle and the vehicle.
• They encountered a number of hunters who had vehicles, and walkie-talkies. At least one let them use his satellite phone, but they didn't come home with them and remained in the hut.
• They only began walking back to civilisation at the beginning of October, after conditions worsened and they even left a note and 3,000 roubles – around £60 ~ in the hunter's house saying they had sheltered there and eaten all his food, as well staying in at least one other hut.
• They should have covered the distance in a matter of days, even with the snow and sub-zero temperatures. But it took almost seven weeks before two of them were found some nine miles from Dipkun.

All very odd .... no doubt it will be settled according to Russian sensibilities, but imagine how this would have played in the UK or US?