Kidnapped Lae woman ‘was killed’

THE Labu-Talie woman kidnapped with her husband near the mouth of the Buang River last Nov 27 has been killed.
This was officially confirmed by Buang community leaders at a meeting with the Labu community leaders and Morobe provincial police commander Supt Peter Guinness in Lae yesterday.
Bulolo MP Sam Basil also attended the meeting.
The woman’s husband was also killed and his body later retrieved and brought back to the village where it was buried.
Buang community leaders confirmed that the woman was alive for sometime after her husband was killed but was later killed and her body buried.
The meeting was the first between the Labu and Buang elders to try and resolve the conflict through peaceful means.
Supt Guinness told both parties to respect the law and allow it to take its normal course. But he made it clear police would not compromise the law and wanted to arrest those responsible for the two murders for prosecution before the courts.
He also appealed to the elders from both sides to tell their people to respect the law and to refrain from taking any matters into their own hands.
Mr Basil told the two sides he was happy to be involved in the peace negotiations but warned that if any of the two sides took the law into their own hands, he would withdraw from the discussions.
During the meeting, it was agreed that the Buang people would show police where they had buried the woman’s body so it could be exhumed for medical examination by a doctor and later buried at her village.
It was also agreed that both parties would continue negotiations on Feb 15 for further discussions.
Yesterday’s meeting was the first of many more to be held over the coming months to deal with the conflict.
Many more issues concerning the conflict would be discussed by both sides with Supt Guinness chairing the meetings.
Mr Basil had committed himself to being involved in the peace negotiations so long as both sides respected the law and allowed it to take its normal course.
He also committed himself to working with the Buang leaders to identify and bring to the police those responsible for the two murders.
A total of 33 houses belonging to the Labu-Talie people, as well as outboard motor dinghies and motors and personal family belongings, were lost in the fires when Buang men raided the village at dawn last Nov 28.