Family Act favours women: Magistrate

THE Family Protection Act is very biased towards women, says a district court magistrate in Mt Hagen.
Magistrate Joseph Donald said yesterday that the new law must be seen to protect everyone, including the complainant and defendant.
He said when it came to domestic violence, the law protected the woman but not the man.
Donald said this when presiding over a domestic violence case where defendant Felix Tigil
Mapuni allegedly assaulted his wife Racheal Jacob on Jan 9 this year.
He said the new law was biased towards women and destroyed the family.
Donald told the probation officer to prepare a pre-sentence report on what type of sentence to impose on Mapuni.
He told the probation officer to file his report in the court by Friday for his consideration.
Mapuni was found guilty by the court with a decision to be handed down on Monday.