A U.S. missionary in Papua New Guinea is on a desperate bid to save women and girls from being tortured and murdered in their communities because theyve been accused of witchcraft.

Iowa-born Lutheran missionary Anton Lutz, 36, has been living in PNG for the past 30 years and has become a well-recognized figure in PNGs ongoing battle against belief in sanguma , or sorcery, a belief used to explain away mysterious illnesses or deaths.

Last month, Lutz helped save a 6-year-old girl who had been horribly burned after the she was accused of using magic to cause bad things to happen in her village in Enga Province, in the center of the country.

It was one of several recent attacks that has forced Lutz to act, with the missionary often traveling through the infrastructure-poor countryside on daylong trips sometimes in the cover of darkness to rescue victims.

I think Im in bits, Lutz told HuffPost when asked if his work was taking a toll on him.

Someone has to do something. If we can convince people to allow the women to be released to hospital without police going in with guns to do it, thats probably OK. I mean, the police need to arrest perpetrators, but its not up to me to tell the police whom to arrest, he said.

Lutz had a personal stake, too, in helping the 6-year-old victim.

The girls mother, Kepari Leniata, was burned alive in a public market in 2013 , and Lutz helped organize the burial of her body afterward.

Hes formed other sorrowful bonds too. Lutz sat beside a young mother named Shirley as she was dying after she was attacked on allegations of sorcery.

I drove back over the mountain and picked her up it was about 15 hours of driving, he said.

She was horrifically burned. It was another four or five days before she died of infections, but in that short amount of time, as a first responder type, you get emotionally bonded with the victim.

Im caring for this young mother shes 25 years old and she has burns all over her body and Im trying to do everything I can to ensure she survives, and she dies.

Standing amid the womans community with Shirleys 2-year-old daughter and mother crying Lutz asks himself why this happens.

But he knows the answer.

Why does this little girl not have a mother? Because of some idiot men. Its mind-boggling and heartbreaking, he said.

Lutz has said that between September and October there have been 30 attacks against women in Enga Province.