Abused child prompts top cop to act
By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
 POLICE Commissioner Gari Baki’s encounter in assisting a sexually- abused child has prompted him to plan to set up a desk in every police station throughout the country to handle sexual abuse cases.
One of his plans was to deploy senior police women officers in police stations to prosecute domestic and sexual violence cases.
The other is to push for the Government to introduce rehabilitation facilities for domestic and sexual violence victims as currently such facilities are only provided by non-governmental organisations.
Mr Baki said this yesterday when launching a one-week workshop on enhancing frontline policing in response to victims of crime at the Salvation Army headquarters in Boroko, Port Moresby.
He said he had to step in last week to repatriate a 14-year-old victim of sexual abuse back to her home province pending her court case.
Mr Baki recalled: “After reporting her case, she was abandoned by her relatives and had nowhere to stay. Fortunately, House Ruth came to the rescue and housed and fed her for the last nine months.
“The investigating officer had recommended her repatriation to her home province pending the court case as she was being coerced by her relatives and others to drop the charges.
“She was allegedly sexually abused since she was 13 years old by the husband of her aunt.
When it occurred the first time, the aunt and the girl reported the matter to one of the police stations but no action was taken.
“The girl and the aunt were then forced to return home and the abuse allegedly occurred again, on a daily basis for a year.
“It is alleged that both the aunt and victim were threatened by the suspect when they did not cooperate in the alleged sexual encounters he had with the girl.
“It is reported that even the girl’s relatives did not intervene and instead scolded her when she brought the allegations up.”
When the matter was finally brought to the attention of the investigating officer he pursued the matter relentlessly.
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