Lack of evidence sets man free

THE Waigani Committal Court has freed a man accused of sexually abusing his five-year-old daughter due to a lack of evidence.
“It is easy to make allegations of sexual abuse but most times it’s hard to prove with evidence,” Magistrate Cosmas Bidar said.
Bidar said the evidence was clearly insufficient to commit the defendant (name withheld) to trial in the National Court. The defendant, who is in his thirties, is from Banz in North Waghi, Jiwaka.
He was charged with one count of sexual penetration, one count of persistent sexual abuse and one count of incest.
Bidar said there was no other evidence apart from a statement from the victim’s mother (defendant’s wife) and a record of an interview with the victim. He said the record of interview was not done in line with the law and the statement from her mother only alleged one incident.
In her statement, the victim’s mother alleged that her husband had been abusing their daughter between January last year and January this year.
She alleged that she caught him one night when the power went off and her husband was with their daughter in the room.
She stated that when she opened the door her husband quickly removed his hand from the girl’s panties.
“It was alleged that the power was off, so how did she (victim’s mother) see what happened in the dark?” Bidar said.
“There wasn’t any information on what form of light was available during that time.”
“The defendant was placed under three different charges.
“One of them was persistent sexual abuse.
“The mother of the victim gave a period of 12 months, but mentioned only one incident.
“The evidence is clearly insufficient to commit the defendant.”