Court throws out rape case due to lack of proof

 By JACKLYN SIRIAS
Sometimes it is easy to make an allegation against a person but difficult to prove it, Magistrate Cosmas Bidar says.
He made the comment after dismissing a case against a man alleged to have raped his under-age step -daughter, because there was insufficient evidence.
Bidar told the Waigani Committal Court that  he had considered all the statements from witnesses, the victim and the accused.
He said “tupla statement wantaim ino right” (both statements were not right) according to the charges.
The court heard that the allegations stemmed from arguments between the family of the girl’s biological father and the accused because they wanted the child back.
“That has happened in many areas in PNG. When children are raised by step-parents, after some years, the biological family will want them back,” Bidar said.
Police said the biological father of the girl had died and the accused took the girl as his step-daughter when he married her mother in 2005.
The accused told the court that because he did not agree to give away the daughter, her biological father’s family decided to accuse him of rape.
The accused said he had lodged a complaint with the Morata Law and Order Committee on January 14 last year about the accusation.
He said that was done before he was arrested and charged.
Bidar said it all came back to the statements of the victim and the accused.
“All other evidence are just supports. The two main ones are the accused and the victim,” Bidar said.
“The court has considered evidence from both parties and found that the allegations were a reason for motive.”
He said both statements had competing arguments and did not have sufficient evidence.