Compo request for rape rejected

By Gynnie Kero in Wewak
A MAGISTRATE has rejected a request by the relatives of the accused and the victim in a rape case to settle the matter out of court.
Their request was conveyed to Wewak District Court Magistrate Francis Fingu by the public prosecutor. Magistrate Fingu said it was an attempt to pervert the course of justice.
He warned that the payment of compensation should not be used by people accused of serious crimes to evade the court process.
The court was told that on Dec 4 last year, Ezekiel Powuli allegedly committed the offence when he entered the home of Regina Yambahomi’s home at Huarmokum village, Kubalia, in the Yangoru-Saussia district of East Sepik around midnight.
He was allegedly drunk and armed with a knife.
On March 14, the police prosecutor applied to the court to have the charge withdrawn because the relatives of Powuli and Yambahomi wanted to settle the matter out of court.
Magistrate Fingu refused the application saying it was a serious offence and a case of violence against women.
He said it was an example of people attempting to pervert the course of justice.
“You (the woman’s relatives) are not victim here. You are trying to financially enrich yourselves from the horrors of the victim being raped,” he said. The case will be next called on April 8.