'The New Year Celebrations did not go down well with one family in Port Moresby.
Lero Pat from Mendi, in the Southern Highlands Province, almost lost her life when she was repeatedly bashed up by her son-in-law on New Year’s Night. Her son-in-law is a prominent Lawyer and Principal Founder of a reknowned Law Firm. As millions welcomed in the New Year with celebration, it was a horrific experience for Lero Pat, a mother of five young girls from Mendi in the Southern Highlands Province, who resides in Port Moresby. She visited the EMTV Studio to tell her of her ordeal. Lero claims it’s not the first time her son-in-law has bashed her up badly. This has been happening since her daughter married a prominent lawyer about three years ago. Lero claims one of her younger daughters was also allegedly raped by this lawyer. Lero was rushed to Port Moresby General Hospital where she received eight stitches to her head and it’s a sad case for her as she will have one of her fingers amputated, all the bones being crushed by the tyre rim that was used to repeatedly bash her. She has reported the matter at the Boroko Police Station, but they required a Medical report. She got that done, and now wants police to deal with the matter and ensure perpetrators of violence against women are put behind bars.' A young deaf and dumb girl was kidnapped from a public toilet and allegedly raped by two unidentified men on Saturday night in the Western Highlands Province.
The incident happened in Lumusa Distr-ict where the young girl was grabbed by two men and carried away to another location where she was raped over several hours before being released. Mark Balati, a reserve policeman in Lumusa who reported the incident to the media, said law and order agents in the district are questioning every young man as a possible suspect after the girl described her attackers through sign language. "We have some prime suspects and we hope to arrest them and hand them over to Mt Hagen police soon," Mr Balati said. The reserve policeman said many of the young boys from the area were in Baiyer for a rugby league match when the incident occurred. According to Mr Balati, the girl was inside a toilet when the two men grabbed her and covered her mouth to stop her from screaming and carried her away. She was reportedly raped for several hours before being released. Mr Balati said the people of Lumusa are fed up with such crimes and are expected to arrest the suspects and hand them over to the police. Giorgio Licini
Todays media report reminds the public of the fact that the death penalty is coming and is not far. Thirteen men sentenced for unspeakable crimes of piracy, attempted piracy and willful murder years or decades ago can start counting their days. They are unlikely to see another Christmas or New Year celebration. Their mothers, wives and children better forget about them. High ranking PNG government officials have travelled abroad during the year 2013 trying to understand if it would be easier to get rid of them by lethal injection, hanging, or firing squad. The countries visited, reportedly US, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are not on the top list of human rights watchdogs, but at least others such as China, Iran or Saudi Arabia were avoided. One day the nation will wake up at the news the first head (since 1954) has rolled probably somewhere in Bomana. We refuse to believe that all thirteen inmates will be executed at the same time, that way prompting PNG to grab for the first time in history the headlines of all international media. It is the expectation of the government, and probably the great majority of the country’ citizens, that after this bloody and gruesome exercise crime will drastically drop all over PNG. It never happened anywhere in the world, but we normally say that Papua New Guinea is “different”. It is also admitted in informal debates that executioners will have to be hired (hopefully at a reasonable price) from outside the country to avoid ensuing retaliation and possible tribal fights among PNG citizens. It’s like years ago hiring foreign mercenaries to kill people in Bougainville. A lesson apparently not learned. Will in fact relatives and wantoks of the criminals not hold the highest officials of the Department of Justice responsible for the execution of their guilty relatives? Is it going to be Sepiks against Simbus once again? The death penalty is coming like a thief. But it may not be able to get away scot free. |
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