Court acquits two on rape charges

A COURT has acquitted a teenager and a man of rape charges because of lack of evidence.
Lae district court magistrate Posain Poloh found that there was insufficient evidence to have the 17-year-old man and his 24-year-old co-accused, Buka Imele, both from Pangia in Southern Highlands, tried for rape.
Both men are residents of Asu Block in Kamkumung within Lae city.
Police alleged that they assaulted the girl, 17, last May.
The girl had told police that she was raped by the teenager and two men beside the Bumbu River, where she had gone to drink.
She said the “drug bodies” – a street moniker for marijuana smokers – accosted her with knives and forced her to have sex with them.
Poloh said there was not enough evidence provided by the police for the case to be heard.
He ordered that the teenager’s bail of K200 be refunded and that Imele be released from remand.