Busu Secondary student’s death leaves family homeless

A BUSU Secondary School student is dead and a family’s house at Maus Markham settlement is in ashes in Lae.
The house was set a light last Saturday in retaliation to the death of the schoolboy the previous day.
The Grade 10 student, part Madang and Sepik, lived at the Sawdust settlement, adjacent to Maus Markham.
He was said to have been drinking alcohol at the nearby Aigris market at the Lae main wharf last Tuesday when he got involved in an altercation with another man.
The man, from Posi village in the Busu mountains of Nawaeb district, lived with what was said to be a drifter who collected firewood to sell to vendors of Aigris market.
At times, he sought shelter with the Mapats, Albert and his wife Augusta and their children.
 Their generosity cost them their home when the student’s relatives avenged his death and burnt it down last Saturday morning.
Mr Mapat said yesterday that after hearing of the death he gave K50 to assist the accused meet hospital costs of the student.
He then sought to solve the matter with community leaders from Maus Markham and the Sawdust compound.
He is now seeking legal advice on the burning down of his home.