Court strikes out murder case

By ZEDAIAH KANAU
TWO men accused of murder had their cases struck out by the Waigani Committal Court yesterday.
Leonard Sergius, 21, from Wanigela village, Tufi, in Northern, and Paul Solien, 18, from Aroma, Abau, in Central, were alleged to have assaulted Christopher Balana which led to his death about six weeks later.
It was alleged that on Dec 14, last year, at about 9pm, Balana was drunk and went to Hohola Stage Two, Beech St, along with his friends to buy liquor.
Balana went to a trade store to buy coke and was served by the storekeeper Yali Feareka and her daughter.
It was alleged that Balana started using abusive language towards the daughter which prompted the mother (Feareka) to call some boys on their street to come and deal with the alleged abuser.
It was alleged that Sergius chased Balana towards Hilton Hotel, got a hold of him and started punching and kicking him.
Solien joined in and began beating Balana, leaving him motionless.
Balana was identified by relatives and taken to the Port Moresby General Hospital on Dec 15.
Balana was told that he had internal bleeding.
He was in the hospital for a week before being discharged.
He was on medication until Jan 19. Two days later, recurring pains began and he was taken to hospital for observation. He was told that he suffered from tuberculosis.
He was put on medication, discharged but died on Feb 4 after constantly vomiting.
The two accused appeared in court and had their case struck out for want of prosecution because the police file on their case was not available so police couldn’t conduct investigations. Magistrate Ernest Wilmot ordered that bail money of K1,000 for both be refunded.