POLICE OFFICER CHARGED FOR ASSAULTING TEENAGERS

POLICE OFFICER CHARGED FOR ASSAULTING TEENAGERS

Post Courier - January 16, 2023

BY MIRIAM ZARRIGA

A policeman was arrested and is in police custody in Madang for an unprovoked attack on two teenage girls who sustained sever injuries to their faces.

The two girls, both aged 17, were brutally assaulted by the police constable because they did not stop to chat with him when he called out to them.

It is alleged the policeman was intoxicated at the time.

The policeman identified as Constable Werake Gigmai, 28, from Kerowagi, Chimbu province, is now detained at the Jomba police station cell.

Const Gigmai was charged with two counts for assault occasioning bodily harm.

Police Commissioner David Manning said no police officer can use his or her uniform to inflict harm or injury on another person.

“It is beyond my understanding that such an act was instigated against the two teenage girls just because they refused to speak to the officer who was allegedly intoxicated,” Mr Manning said.

“And for the officers who stood by and allowed the officer to assault the two girls and did nothing to stop his actions, appropriate actions will be taken against them.”

Madang police commander Chief Superintendent David Seine Jr said that under his watch he will not tolerate such actions by police officers against women and girls.

“This incident will not go unanswered and any officer who thinks he can use his uniform and harass women and girls in Madang, you will be dealt with.

We talk about violence against women and girls but it seems certain officers use their uniform to get away with crimes or incidents committed against women and girls,” Mr Seine said.

According to police reports, the two girls were at the RSL Market when they encountered Const Gigmai.

He called to one of the girls to wait so he could speak with her but the girl replied that they don’t know him and didn’t want to talk to him.

They quickly walked away to the Handy Mart Service Station along Modilon Road but Const Gigmai followed them.

Police say without pro-vocation and warning, Const Gigmai suddenly assaulted the two girls.

He slapped the first girl who fell and she quickly picked herself up and ran for safety.

The second girl wasn’t so lucky.

He punched her, lifted her and slammed her face down onto the concrete floor and then stepped on the right side of her face and rubbed her left face against the concrete floor.

He then punched her head several times, the report said.

The public responded and Const Gigmai quickly stood up, left the scene, and allegedly got on a police vehicle.

He then allegedly told the crowd “bai yupla mekim wanem, em family problem” (what can you do? It is a family problem). And he left the scene.

The matter was reported that same day and Madang police Internal Affairs officers responded.

In another incident, a policeman under the pretext of questioning a woman for her involvment in an alleged crime forced himself on the woman and raped her at his home after threatening her and forcing her to his room.

The officer was identified by the victim who reported the matter.

He was apprehended, interviewed and charged and detained at the Jomba police station cell when he managed to break out and escape but was re-captured and charged.