Gold medallist Toua arrested

By ZEDAIAH KANAU
POLICE have arrested and charged Papua New Guinean Olympian weightlifter Dika Toua with assaulting a man in the Downtown police station on March 25.
Toua, 36, a 12-time and current Oceania titlist and a Commonwealth titlist and current Pacific Games champion is out on K300 police bail and is expected to appear in the Boroko district court next week for arraignment.
Toua, a mother of two who competes regularly in the 53kg weight class and has appeared in four Olympic finals, is from Port Moresby’s Hanuabada village in Moresby-North West, National Capital District.
According to the police summary of facts, at about 12.15pm, the man was in his home in Hanuabada when police came to take him to the station after a complaint.
At around 1pm, Toua was at the station and was alleged to have punched him several times on his forehead in front of duty policemen.
After the alleged assault, Toua and the policemen detained the man in the police lockup and left.
The man was not charged on Toua’s complaint and was released. The man then lodged a police report against Toua for the assault.
She was then asked to go to the Boroko police station for questioning.
Toua denied the accusation, claiming that she pulled the man from lying on top of her father.