POLICE Commissioner Gari Baki has declared war on men who abuse women, and has vowed to ensure perpetrators face the full force of the law.
“It is sickening. I am disgusted and very angry.
“What is happening around the country is criminal. Each day there is a report about a woman suffering unimaginable torture at the hands of her husband or criminals.
These are not real men. They are cowards,” he said in a statement yesterday.
“You cannot justify the violence against our womenfolk. No one has the right to inflict pain upon another person.
In a marriage situation, bride price does not give anyone the right to harm or abuse their partners.
“I am now declaring war on the cowards who are abusing our womenfolk.
I intend to put a stop to these abuses and punish those who are inflicting such abuse, pain and humiliation upon our womenfolk.
“I call upon real men to stand with me and make a difference.
“Let us join hands and make our country safe for everyone, especially for our mothers, sisters, daughters and wives,” he said this in light of the increasing cases of violence against women.
Mr Baki had started the fight within the police force, where a senior police officer has been suspended from duties for allegedly beating his wife.
He has also directed the New Guinea Islands divisional commander to take appropriate disciplinary action against a police officer who physically assaulted his wife after he was found to be having an extra-marital affair, as reported in the media.
“There will not be double standards under my watch and I will come down hard on any member of the constabulary who abuses his wife,” Mr Baki said.
“I expect all my commanders, commissioned and non-commissioned officers to deal swiftly with members under their command who are found to be abusing women.
“The police service is the defender and protector of the weak and defenceless. Cowards who abuse women have no place within the constabulary.”