Policeman’s case dropped

A COMMITTAL Court in Waigani has dismissed an attempted murder charge against a policeman due to insufficient evidence.
Magistrate Paul Puri Nii made the ruling on Tuesday saying police had failed to make a case against Constable Tony Pitu, 37, of Yaipos village in Wapenamanda, Enga as the witnesses’ statements were inconsistent with the victim’s statement.
“To make a case against someone in such cases, evidence must be consistent and corroborate with the victim’s statement.
“The evidence provided in the police file is not meeting the elements of attempt murder charge,” he said.
Magistrate Nii said the victim was wounded on Nov 19, 2020 and his statement on Jan 4, 2022 said that he had a fist fight with Pitu before Pitu’s relatives assaulted him.
“The witnesses’ statements do not corroborate victim’s statement in which the witnesses saw Pitu running towards the alleged scene but did not see him assaulting the victim.
“Corroboration may not be necessary in other cases but for this charge, corroboration is necessary to sustain the said allegation,” he said.
“Furthermore, all witnesses’ statements did not identify Pitu to be the person using a stone, stick or bush knife in attempting to kill the victim.
“Thus, the evidence demonstrates that Pitu on Nov 19, 2020 did not attempt to murder the victim.”
Police alleged that on Nov 19, 2020 at Bomana Red Sea Police Barracks, Port Moresby, Pitu was drinking with his relatives when the victim and his wife approached and had an argument with him.
The argument allegedly resulted in a fight and Pitu shouted to his relatives to kill the victim and he would pay the compensation.