Armed criminals rape school girls
By JAMES APA GUMUNO
THREE high school girls were among six women raped by a group of armed men in Nipa, Southern Highlands province, this week.
They were among a group of 16 people, including a businessman, who were travelling from Mendi to Tari when they encountered a roadblock at Nipa at about 3am on Wednesday.
They were travelling in an Isuzu truck owned by businessman Mathew Jupai. He had on board K82,000 worth of store goods.
The six women included three high school girls.
They set out from Mt Hagen for Tari on Tuesday afternoon.
Mr Jupai told The National yesterday that when they reached Epso village in Nipa they came across a roadblock.
He said the armed criminals cut a big log and put it across the road. He said he managed to drive over the log but the criminals shot at the two front tyres.
He said when his truck came to a stop the villagers armed with high powered guns ordered all the passengers into a house located near the road and stripped them naked.
Mr Jupai said the criminals checked their clothes for valuables, then separated the men from the women.
He said that the six women were taken away and gang raped, and when the men pleaded with the criminals to stop, they were assaulted.
He said they were held hostage untill 10am then they were all released. But the criminals kept the truck and its goods, which include 300 bags of rice, 22 cigarette boxes and four bags of NPK fertilisers.
He said his truck cost him K158,950 and it was a year old. The goods he bought were for his bulk store in Tari station and also for his retail store near Tari Secondary.
His people retaliated by grabbing a 25-seater bus owned by a Nipa man, an ambulance vehicle belong to Pandaka health centre and two Land cruisers belonging to Oil Search on Wednesday.
He said these will be returned after he gets his truck and goods back.
Mr Jupai said many innocent people were becoming victims of the roadblocks in Nipa and urged appropriate authorities to do something.
Mendi police station commander Papoto Sibron said yesterday he has dispatched a police mobile squad from Tari to go into Nipa to clear the roadblock and recover the truck which is still in the hands of the armed criminals.
He also sent some policemen from Mendi as reinforcement to stay on the ground and ensure the safety of the travelling public passing through the Nipa section of the highway.
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