FolkloreSomething Told · PeruObscurity 7 of 7
The pishtaco
The pishtaco is the fat thief of Andean tales, told in nearly every Quechua-speaking place. The rumour keeps returning in Peru, in a 2009 police claim the authorities disowned and in crowd violence against people accused of being pishtacos.
Before you read on. Pishtaco rumours put real people in danger. In Sicaya, near Huancayo, residents seized two people they accused of being pishtacos who traffic in organs; RPP Noticias reported that police rescued them before they could be lynched, and that a crowd of about 500 with stones and sticks then surrounded the police station.
20 November 2009 (Guardian: Peruvian gang claim reported)12 routes out →