THE wild man of Borneo is alive and flourishing in the 21st century. If the minority Madurese refuse to leave their homes, they will, Dayak head-hunters insisted yesterday, be decapitated
In the courtyard of a village headman's house, a dozen Dayak headhunters sat smoking pungent clove cigarettes, revelling in mass murder and plotting more. A 21-year old veteran of last week's massacres of Madurese said: "I felt so strong, so powerful. For seven days I didn't sleep or eat.
"In the first fight the Madurese threw bombs at us but none of us were hurt. Then we attacked. I just stabbed and slashed and cut off their heads. I don't know how many I killed, but it was at least 10." At the Dayak-owned Rama Hotel, severed heads were stored in the basement and a league table of skulls collected by different clans was notched up on a wall.
A local businessman said: "We were in the lead with 478." This figure is far above official estimates of the dead. A 21-year-old, who asked not to be named, had recently returned from fighting in Sampit, where an estimated 400 migrants from the distant island of Madura were slaughtered last week.
Most were beheaded. He did not follow the ancient Dayak custom and bring home any of his victims' heads as souvenirs but some of his brethren did, and buried them with their ancestors' bones to act as their servants in the afterlife. He said: "Some acted like this but for me the heads are a bit heavy."