‘I was nearly killed’

By Rebecca Kuku
“I just want to break free from my violent home, I want to be alive for my baby,” says a 23-year-old mother, who is in fear for her life yet again this week.
She alleged that on Monday night her husband came home drunk and started beating her for not smiling and welcoming him.
“He just came home and started kicking me because he said I didn’t smile and welcome at him when he arrived home,” the woman claimed yesterday after the husband was locked up.
“I literally vomited and peed myself while I was on the floor. He pulled his belt out and started strangling me, and the only thought in my mind was of my sweet baby boy.
“So I fought back till he let me go, while I was grasping for air he threw me out of the house and told me to walk. I had only K4 in my pocket but managed to walk from Waigani to 5-Mile to my family who then took me to the Port Moresby General Hospital emergency ward. Though I know every son needs a father, I also know my son needs me too and I won’t be of any help to him if I am dead,” she said.
The woman said it was the third time the well-to-do man had assaulted and injured her.
“The first time he assaulted me I had head injuries and three cuts on my lips. I reported the incident to the Waigani police station but the officers there just told my husband to sign a statutory declaration form and they released him. He was not charged with anything,” the woman said.
“The second time he assaulted me, he kicked my left eye with his boot seven times and I was not able to see for some time. Thankfully the eye healed, I was so scared I’d be blind and wouldn’t be able to see my son again.”
The woman said that she reported the second incident to the Waigani Police Family and Sexual Violence Unit and while they were working on getting a protection order, her family and the husband’s family removed the police report and opted to sort it outside the police station through traditional compensation. “However, since then, nothing has been done and he walked free again, till Monday night when he came home drunk and started assaulting me for not smiling at him.”
The woman said as a Highlands woman, her family believed in compensation.
“The first two times, even though I was nearly killed, my family told me to go back to him because of our son.
“So I went back, but now I realise that I won’t be of much use to my son if I am killed.”
She placed another official complaint with the Waigani Police FSVU this week.
The husband was arrested and charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm and was detained at a police station in Port Moresby yesterday.
The mother said she wanted to divorce him and would work towards that with the help of the Waigani Police FSVU.
“For us, we can’t just go back to our family.
“My husband will have to compensate me for the three years that I lived with him and the injuries I sustained from his beating.
“I just want to be free from and the violence.”
The woman thanked the Waigani police FSVU for the dedication and commitment they showed in helping women like her.
“You have given us hope,” she said.