10 years for murder of other wife

By ZEDAIAH KANAU
A WOMAN who killed another woman by stabbing her along a freeway in Port Moresby was jailed 10 years by Waigani National Court Judge Teresa Berrigan on Friday.
However, Janet Dolo, of Tiribi village in Erave, Southern Highlands, will spend only six years, six months and 12 days after deductions were made to her sentence for wilful murder.
She stabbed Serah Kende with a kitchen knife during an argument near the 8-Mile roundabout along the Hubert Murray Freeway last March 2.
Both women were married to the same man, Nayson Kambe.
The court noted that Dolo’s family had paid compensation to the deceased’s family but Justice Berrigan said that this could not be used as a mitigating factor, saying that “compensation must not be taken into consideration in order to administer justice”. The court also noted that the compensation was done to maintain peace, but Dolo could still be at risk of retaliation if let out on probation, thus, making her unsuitable for probation.
The court took into account aggravating factors in which a dangerous weapon was used and a life lost while a mitigating factor was that Dolo had not instigated the fight.
“The offender (Dolo) is sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment; one year, five months and 18 days spent in custody is deducted from time to be served,” Justice Berrigan said.
Justice Berrigan suspended two years on the condition that Dolo kept the peace and be of good behaviour.
She will serve the balance of her sentence at Bomana prison.
A fight between Dolo and Kende saw Kende hit Dolo in the head with a stone.
Dolo tried to run away and cross the road but was pursued by Kende.
She took out a knife and stabbed Kende near her neck just above her right collar bone.