Man gets 9 years for incest

A NATIONAL court judge says the crime of incest is very serious and offends the law of the country, human logic, nature and destroys customary values kept from traditional time.
Kokopo resident judge, Justice Salatiel Lenalia said this when sentencing Ishmael Kabian from Mualim village in the Duke of York LLG in Kokopo district,  to 14 years in jail after finding him guilty of persistent sexual abuse.
However, five years was suspended from the 14-year sentence.
The prisoner was the victim’s uncle and violated her at the family residence at Rabagi No.2 village in Toma ward, Gazelle district.
The victim was 11-years-old when she was sexually abused by the prisoner in 2013. He continued this abuse until May 2015.
Lenalia said crimes of incest could not be treated lightly and this was the very reason why the parliament thought that such crimes should be met with very high penalties.
“The breach created between the offender and the victim caused a big gully between the two of them and their loved ones and reconciliation should take place,” he said.
The court ordered the prisoner to compensate the victim and her relatives with K1500.
The relatives of the prisoner were given two months to pay up.