Guest is served as wedding buffet

A guest was murdered and eaten at a wedding reception after he tripped and accidentally touched the bride's bottom.

Benjie Ganay's cooked flesh was served to other guests too drunk to realise what they were eating, police in the Philippines said yesterday.

The cannibalism took place after Mr Ganay's clumsiness upset Eladio Baule, the bride's father. Baule formed a death squad with his son Gerald, cousin Junnie Buyot and nephew Sabtuari Pique.

They confronted Mr Ganay, drove him to a remote spot and stabbed him to death. Buyot, who is now acting as a prosecution witness, said they roasted Mr Ganay's body using coconut leaves and kerosene.

Baule ordered him to eat a piece of the flesh but, when he was sick, he was forced to swallow it at knifepoint. The group then returned to the reception and served more of Mr Ganay's cooked remains to guests without them knowing.

Buyot added: 'It was perhaps due to their drunkenness. They probably didn't know what they were eating.' Buyot reported the killing to a village elder who took him to police.

Pique also surrendered and Baule and his son were arrested. Supt Rey Lanada, police chief of Palawan island, said cannibalism would be treated as an aggravating factor in the crime, which happened in the town of Narra on July 17.

Many of the southern Philippine islands are home to indigenous tribes which once practised cannibalism and head-hunting.