2 dead in child support feud

By MAJELEEN YANEI
AN ARGUMENT over child maintenance has left two dead in East Sepik’s Angoram.
A primary school head teacher was killed by the Grade Nine brother of a girl who allegedly had a child with the teacher.
In retaliation, angry people broke into the Angoram police cell and chased out the student, slashing him to death.
The story was corroborated by phone by the distraught father of the Grade Nine student and by an official source.
The head teacher of Ngainga primary school in Angoram, Selvin Kukus was killed by the student, named as Judas Maun, from Dimiri in the same area on Saturday, said the official source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Samson Maun (the student’s father) told The National: “Kukus impregnated my elder daughter in 2015 and refused to pay maintenance since then.
“The child was brought up by my family, my son (Judas) has been trying all means to care for his sister’s child.
“It’s very frustrating when the (child’s) father is a teacher and refused to play his fatherly role, even when the court ordered him to do so.
“Judas is the youngest of my seven children and he was doing grade Nine at Maprik secondary. He met Kukus at the jetty bridge on his return from holiday.
“Judas asked Kukus if he was going to do something about his child and they argued.
“Kukus took a wooden chair and hit Judas on the head. That is when Judas slashed his (Kuku’s) throat with a bush knife.
“My son was apprehended by people at the station and they took him to Angoram police station.”
Our source said Judas Maun was locked in the cells but when the word spread of the killing of the teacher, some angry people demanded that the policemen open the cell block.
He said when the policemen refused, the people broke the lock with a metal bar and entered the cell.
“They chased the boy out of the cell-room and when he wanted to jump off the fence, they slashed him at various parts of the body with knives that led to his death,” our source said.
Angoram station has only five regular policemen on the ground, the source said.
Attempts to get a comment from East Sepik’s police commander were unsuccessful.