Outrage over attack

The National Main Stories

By REBECCA KUKU
A WOMAN, who won medals for the country in rugby and boxing, is in a safe-house recovering from injuries after her husband, an army officer, allegedly assaulted her, police say.
And the alleged assault on mother-of-three Debbie Kaore, 30, by husband Lt Murray Oa, 33, has sparked outrage from individuals and organisations, including Prime Minister James Marape, Defence Force commander Maj-Gen Gilbert Toropo and the Oceania National Olympic Committee.
A video reportedly taken by a relative of the alleged incident in Port Moresby went viral on social media. She was treated at the
hospital for her injuries and now living in a safe-house with her children.
National Capital District Met Supt Perou N’dranou confirmed yesterday that police had charged Oa, 33, with one count of assault causing grievous bodily harm.
He said Oa, from Waima village in Kairuku, Central, was brought to the Boroko police station yesterday by the military police after his wife lodged a complaint about the alleged assault.
“He was formally arrested and charged by the Boroko Family and Sexual Violence Unit and detained in the Boroko cells,” N’dranou said.
He stressed that Oa had “acted alone” and the incident had nothing to do with the military.
“Therefore people should not judge the military over this personal and isolated incident,” N’dranou said.
Marape posted on Facebook that “violence begets violence at the family level and does not solve problems”. “Our society was built on the family as the foundation. So if you want to build a better and safer community, let us first build a better and safer home. It all starts at home,” he said.
Defence Force commander Major-General Gilbert Toropo condemned Oa’s alleged action as “totally unacceptable from a member of the defence force”.
“We condemn all acts of violence against women and girls,” he said.
He said Oa had also committed a very serious offence under the military discipline code.
The Oceania National Olympic Athletics Commission said Kaore had won medals for PNG in boxing, rugby sevens and 15s at the Pacific Games, including a gold medal at the 2015 Pacific Games.
“The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) commitment to protecting human rights is codified in the Olympic Charter,” commission chairperson Karo Lelai said.
She said the IOC was “at the forefront of the fight to eliminate and prevent violence against women and girls through sport”.

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40 comments

  • It’s good know that the husband was arrested for his actions. There must be a limit to husband and wife conflicts in Papua New Guinea. The more the general public view these as a norm, the more harm our sisters and mothers receive which can eventually lead to death.

  • what is the cause of the violation??, government must also look into the nature of the causes, sometimes most of the men could not hold back the feeling of violence. .. the act of violance is self guarding all women. and they take advantage on that… .. i disagree with the law of violation..

    • There is no need for you to apologise brother. You didn’t do anything wrong nor did your men in green. It is an isolated case. An individual act.

  • Whilst we don’t condone violence against women, we must also address the deeper underlying issues regarding the breakdown in family life. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and sending one person to jail may send a message of our strick abhorrence to such actions, we must also create and provide avenues where such issues can be addressed earlier, and long term solutions identified. Family life, marital counseling, psychiatry, and anger management are all specialized fields that PNG has yet to venture into.

    As the PM has stated, the family unit is the center of our society, so we must look into elements that are affecting it.

  • Useless Judiciary system that does not take into account the cause of the violence.
    It seem fit for the Nationals to publish the Olympians back ground but I think she has broken some record for marriages and cheating that needs to be taken into account. She Needs a Gold Medal for that as well.

  • Our Melanesian culture doesn’t allow or tolerate women and men to publicly expose their half or full naked body. Your nakedness is coincided with your partner and no to the public.

    If the victim put her act together she wouldn’t end up like that. Married women act responsibly and uphold the wife and motherhood not a bitch or prostitute.
    The husband took the law took into his own hands after seeing his wife shaking her boobs. What a disgrace she is to the husband and his family.
    He should divorce her. Pity for the husband

  • I total disagree with you brother CASTRO, The Law is for all dis regardless of the sex but it is just that more survivors of violence is seen to be female partners because our society turn to see them as inferiors despite the fact that there are few women who are superiors.
    The bottom line is that violence is not the way of solving any problems that occurs within the family and remember that it only makes the situation from bad to worse. Therefore never use violence to solve any issue but communicate for better understanding and you will enjoy the purpose of having a family and living a life.

    • As male I can not tolerate my other half revealing herself and teasing the opposite sex in public media. What is wrong with people nowadays with such behaviours. What’s wrong with your moral compass when you are responsible for others…your husband, children and extended family including your in-laws? Try watching your other half do that in front of you with others. If you do not feel anything then you do not love him/her or something is wrong with your head…you are not a normal human being. Violence has been a part of us human beings….its in all of us, we become violent when we are out of control or when we are brought a point where you can not take it any more.

      • So, William, you are saying that it is okay for married women to have extramarital affairs come back, talk it over, and be accepted into the family, whenever possible, whatever they feel like doing? how would you feel if you come home to see your wife having an affair with another guy right there? if it was in Australia it would be a different story but, in your case I believe otherwise the inevitable will happen. Lt. Oa is not guilty until proven guilty. I sympathize with him. please women folks have some respect for your menfolks.

  • Married woman, hhmmmmm?
    Are there law’s in PNG for those who commit martial affairs.

  • This is family issue which does not related to Military Discipline as general. But as a man in green uniform he should know that any inch of act result in disciplinary stories. He should not bash his wife rather but solve other the way round. Otherwise marriage issue is a constant barriers among couples when dealing with intermarriages. Women are not subject to violence that has to be UNDERSTAND. Jail the culprit.

  • There must be a form of justice paid to the Officer as his unfaithful wife was instigating the actions deemed not proper. He would not have caused bodily harm to the gold medalist if only she respected her self as a married women, her good husband and their three children.
    As a Melanesian, acting out of frustration over unfaithfulness of a wife is something so natural to all men, even if christian principles, foreign laws and values and that which adopted by our constitution can not alter the emotions triggered by such behavior within the marriage especially.
    Male and Female makes balance, and so the law must be balance on both and not perceptively one-sided on female while the gents’ rights and values are continually suppressed in this Melanesian society. Remember, no matter how hard we try to be non-Melanesian, we will never be. I do not support wife-brushing but, the pain she endures balances the gravity of her stupidity as a married woman, and mother of three kids, and so, Lt. Oa must be given fair treatment.
    Thank you.

  • The media state no reason why the husband beat her wife. There must be a reason for the beating.

  • I agree about what our Priminister James Marape as said. We have to wake up and fix our homes first.If we do so I think our country will not face such problems.

  • What’s the cause/reason? What made him react violently? The media should really look into this and state the reason why he bashed his wife. There’s nothing this article that states the real reason.

  • Give Lt. Oa a fair justice considering the cause of the violence. A married woman should not behave like that. All Gents, imagine if it was your wife who did that????

  • From my own perspective, it is a two way thing, men does not act unless & when we women provoke our husbands to do so. So ladies before provoking your husbands, think about what will happen next. Please remember, your husband is the head of Family, just as Christ is the head of family. I for one pity this women with the bruises, but maybe she did something that really made the husband to do this to her. Lets wait & hear the mans side of story, instead of judging and pointing fingers to the man. The law can charge him for the bodily harm , but law too must look into the cause of this.

  • Find the root cause before you make any judgement, its a family issue let the police do their job .Too much women’s right could be the root cause .Dont believe every thing NGOs and people feed.

  • We judge by looking at the Physical Abuse which is in fact the result of mental abuse which is already caused. Violence has been in Papua New Guinea for ages, and the more we are trying to stop it, the more it is escalating. I believe it is about time we start looking the root of what caused the violence.

  • We are living in a melanesian country with diverse culture and languages which means that to understand other people’s way of life is too difficult. Based on that, by adapting the law of gender equality and womans right give order to female to do whatever they want that can suits their desire which realy against some of our customary laws and customs. We are too good at adapting but not good at practicing. Please, this law needs adjustment.

  • While I condone the violence against women in PNG, there is always a two side of a coin. Media reporting is also bias based on the fact that one sided story is been read and heard throughout the media.
    I don’t like that.

  • WHY did this unfortunate, disgraceful and ugly thing happen???? We all know very well that the media is the most powerful tool in the world today! don’t toy with facts. Your now seemingly biased story may now prevent justice to be thorough!

    So far now, it seems;
    – Whatever happened didn’t need to, there were better alternatives that could have been sought by the accused.
    – Whatever happened couldn’t have, if the victim hadn’t done so, to provoke and stir a disagreement.

  • Under no circumstance should a man or a woman raise his/her hand in an act of violence towards another. Regardless of the method that provoked such behavior. If you commit a criminal offense and found guilty, you pay the penalty no matter the reason or cause of your behavior. The victim may be partially at fault but when you act upon your thoughts or anger, you and you alone will face the consequences. At the end of the day, a lesson has been learnt and both the accused and the victim have paid tremendously for their actions.

  • Women and | Girls this days don’t seem to respect their bodies by exposing nudes on social media which triggers violence acts. To Female folks, please respect your bodies, husbands and boyfriends. Facebook and Tiktok whatever they called is the major link where web users abuse. Please find the root cause of the problem before making negative comments. I am also a victim of Facebook which my wife cheated on me. Please Judge according to the cause of the problem.

  • Many a times the one who is guilty is the one who is trying to hide things by way of being aggressive, and violent, all of us one way or another has always been a witness to this scenario, are we going to continue harnessing such activities, definitely NO we must stand up and condemn such violence. All of us are always going into the face book which I believe have many GOOD advice coming from it, such like the Dhar Mann short descriptive play.

    Secondly if the accuse is given bail I believe this will be an injustice to the victim, he should remain behind bars until proven guilty or not.

    its a pity that such lady would go through this. I haven’t beaten my wife since our marriage 26 years ago and have three grown up Kids

  • Judges and the courts can not determine a person’s emotions and feelings. What caused the husband to express his inner feelings and emotions ? Obviously there was something that was not right which triggered the husband to express his emotions. He was not drink at the time or even a mentally retarded person. Obviously , the husband must have acted upon provocation which was invited by the victim. The courts needs to be fair……

  • Those who asked to know why the attack or assault took place should know that NOTHING justifies such an attack. You can have arguments in a marriage of course but there a ways to fix it. And certainly, giving several head knocks, punches and attacking your wife with a hot iron does not justify anything. Men who attack women are are cowards. Unfortunately, many of such attacks and violence against women occur within the disciplinary forces. PNG society as a whole has a big issue to deal with when it comes to violence against women. That soldier must be sentenced to jail. He must pay compensation and Debbie Kaore should also file for divorce because if he beats you up and sends you to the hospital he will do it again and again

  • I strongly condoned the violence; however there are 2 sides to this story.
    (I watched the video closely and saw that he asked her for her phone and she refused to handed him her phone). As the result, that provoked him to go into the beast mode.
    A proper investigation must be done or carried out on why the Officer acted in such a manner, and what caused him to inflict such horrendous injuries on her?

  • Where is that Love at first sight??? Was it love or lust? ??Youths have to make right choices. Please don’t judge the book by its cover. Your future rests on the choices you make today …………Well she choose to marry him so that is her choice. She as reap what she has sown……..A GOOD LESSON FOR YOUNG GIRLS TO CHOOSE WELL.

  • Well it is very obvious that the woman is the cause of the problem. It always certainly is for any other related violence. And yet the law is encouraging woman to involve in marital affairs. I agree with Marape statement that happiness starts at home. However, how can there be peace and harmony at home where the law is encouraging women to commit those affairs yet expecting a happy home. That’s a joke.

  • Carry out tap root investigation into the root cause of the violence and you will be in a better position to make a balance comment. Why na em kamap olsem????? We are only looking at one side of the coin- what about the other side???? What about the poor husband, father and the kids, relatives etc etc..

    A sorry state of an affair to the father and the kids.

  • I don’t think the army general or PM knows the real issue. Where the crowds move they want to follow. Can we be real leaders and make our business to get to the bottom of it so that our true judgement can be aired? Real leaders look at both sides of the coin before making judgement. Like the wiseman King Solomon. What about lt. Oa sides of the story?

  • Every cause has a reason for it. Can Police investigate the root cause? I think every PNGan male is prone to addressing martial issues with wives culturally, obviously assaulting them. Two things as family can consider;
    1. Be loyal to each other
    2. Respect their marriage at all times
    Regardless of the assault, identify who actually instigated this to happen.

  • You reap what you done, any way Government needs to justifies the gender equity Law which boost women to do whatever they want while overlooking the husband. Gender eguity is a Western culture and wont work for such an Eastern culture. This is a good example for cheating woman, this is an ongoing issues regardless of tough penalty or laws, if you keep cheating you will keep bashed by your husband even to your death. Women stay inside the fence of the family where the husband is the head, however the officer needs to be treated fairly when considering the gravity of both sides.

  • They both have accounts to tell, then again, there was an explosion device in their possession may perhaps needs disarming, whilst it went off all of a sudden, and touched illegally to the people of many walks of lives from different cultures, who are very sympathetic.

    Whoa ! Sometimes painful feelings brings change for the better.

  • Whatever the case educated persons know violence is not the answer to all problems.
    Were all other avenues exhausted for violence to solve their problem/s……. Discipline…where is it. This guy wants to make his name in public and social media……

  • women want respect, they need to firstly respect themselves. Not saying and posting on social media.

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