Daughter wants stern punishment
for father
By NIDRA KEWERE MAPI
THE daughter of a man sentenced to seven years imprisonment for committing incest is not satisfied with the penalty imposed on her father, saying he deserves a more severe punishment.
“Leslie” as she wanted to be called, daughter of Au Numa Rokai Pene who was sentenced to seven years with hard labour by the National Court last Wednesday, told The National she wanted him to face a more severe sentence for what he had put her through.
“After all, I am the one who is suffering and all he gets is seven years which is too light.
“After what he did to me, I feel I am useless and not worth anything,” Leslie said.
She said it was all over now but no matter where she went, she would never forget what had happened.
Leslie, aged 20, has already sought counselling to overcome the pain and trauma that she had undergone.
“My advice to other young women with a similar experience is not to hide but to come out openly so that they can get help,” she said.
Pene first committed the offence when Leslie was 10 years old .
She said she was very scared but could not tell her mother Tai Samuel who was Pene’s third wife at that time.
“He threatened me not to tell anyone or else he would beat me,” Leslie said.
She has two children from this relationship.
Leslie’s mother Tai said she was suspicious that Pene was abusing her daughter but when she confronted him, he would often beat her badly with anything he could lay his hands on.
“ I really wanted to help her but could not do so because Pene used to belt me up badly,” she said
Leslie was also beaten whenever she ran away, went somewhere or did something Pene did not approve. She added he was very possessive of her and did not let her look at any guys of her age.
Once, Pene beat Leslie up so badly that she had to be bed-ridden. The reason was that she started seeing a guy of her age.
On various occasions, Tai reported the matter to police but she said Pene always bribed them (policemen), so nothing was done about it.
Tai said she left Pene in 2004 and after Leslie had the second child by him, she reported the matter to police.
“Even though he is behind bars now, it is still not fair because he will come out one day,” she said.
Leslie is now happily married to a man from Western province.
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