Police rescue schoolgirl, 14, forced into marriage

The National National

POLICE have rescued a 14-year-old schoolgirl who was forcefully removed from her teacher’s home in North Fly’s Hafami village on Saturday morning.
The girl had sought refuge at her teacher’s home after two men, a father and son, abducted her to force her into a marriage.
North Fly commander Chief Insp Silva Sika told The National that the duo had arranged the marriage after an uncle of the girl had married a daughter of the family.
“In exchange, the uncle told the two men they could get his niece to marry into their family,” he said.
“The girl was unaware of the arrangement until the two men arrived to take her.
“She ran to her teacher’s home but the two men chased and threatened the teacher and took the girl.
“Villagers took pictures of the girl who struggled to get free from the two men and posted it on social media (Facebook).
“The girl was forcefully taken away, screaming for help from the teacher who could not do anything.
“The picture got the attention of (North Fly) MP James Donald who sent his team over to my office and advised me that a flight would be chartered to get policemen across to rescue the girl.
“The two men and the girl were brought back to Kiunga for investigations.”
Chief Insp Sika said the two men were being interviewed for appropriate charges to be laid.
“While the policemen were there, they informed the villagers that forced marriage of young girls will be dealt with by the police,” he said
He commended the teacher for trying to protect the girl.

One thought on “Police rescue schoolgirl, 14, forced into marriage”

  • Where is justice if the uncle of the school girl is not party to the arrest and subsequent interrogation by police? Is he not the instigator? He appears to be the person who gave the okay which resulted in the abduction and forced marriage.

    Did not the uncle know that his niece was under age or at school? Does he know how much trauma he’d caused for the niece? To what extent has he severed relationships within his own families??????

    To end strings of questions, can appropriate authorities seriously look into this issue and round the uncle up and get him to answer these questions before the court. He has to be made to pay for his actions!

    Its about time we grow out of cultures that are destructive and cause harm to others.

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