Not too long ago we posted a story concerning Peruvian police arresting gang members for allegedly luring peasant farmers into the jungle to murder them and sell the rendered fat from their bodies to cosmetics companies, which crime we probably don't need to say would have constituted a big-time trough. Well, turns out the farmers can rest easy, at least for the time being. It was all a hoax:
Initial doubts were compounded when police from the region where the crimes were alleged to have taken place said they knew nothing about a gang of murderers killing people for their fat.
We are as glad as just about anybody that this story turned out to be false, though the Peruvian peasant farmers may hold a slight edge on us in the general-gratitude department, the outcome of this story affecting them a bit more significantly. One theory, which we feel makes a pretty decent amount of sense, is that the local police concocted the story to conveniently explain away unsolved cases, and we sort of have to admire their inventiveness. I mean, murdering people for their body fat? That takes some brainstorming.
Anyway there are few things better than taking something that started out more than a little grim and reducing it to a farce, even if it's still in poor taste. The world, we suppose, is a slightly better place than we had previously thought. Slightly.
via BBC
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