Man, woman to appear in court for alleged kidnapping

By Alphonse Porau
A MAN and a woman who allegedly kidnapped a boy in Port Moresby last year and took him to Enga have been told to appear before the Waigani Committal Court next month.
Abol Peter, 50, from Topua village in Southern Highlands appeared before Magistrate Cosmas Bidar last week.
Bidar read the charges to him and adjourned the matter to Dec 11 to give time to police to complete their file.
He also ordered that co-accused Cathyn Michael Ken, 23, from Longel village in Enga who was absent to appear before him on the same date. The two were charged with one count each of child kidnapping, deprivation of liberty and extortion.
The court heard that the two forcibly and fraudulently took away the child who was 20 months old at the time from his parents.
They allegedly took the child to Suruki village in Enga.
The court heard that they demanded that the parents deposit K20,000 into a bank account if they wanted the child returned to them.
Police alleged that on March 3, 2016 at about 11am at Gordon market in Port Moresby, the mother was attending to another son who was very sick and crying and left the child by himself.
She reported the matter to police when she could not find the child.
On March 7, the parents received calls from the two demanding K20,000 for the child’s return.
On Nov 1, 2017 police used the Global Positioning System (GPS) to arrest Peter’s wife in Port Moresby. It led to his arrest and the safe return of the child.