Six jailed for murder

A WOMAN and five men have been jailed by the National Court in Kavieng for murdering a man they believed to be a sorcerer early last year.
In passing the sentence, Justice Graham Ellis said even if they believed Kiapman Mikai was a sorcerer, it was not a reason to kill him.
He noted that after assaulting and killing Mikai, they “cooked him like a pig”.
Joe Sovit, Derrick Lutam, Nelson Tadang and Tadang Selam were jailed for 10 years each while Mathew Raphale and Serah Balasam were jailed for 16 years each.
All are from Pindiku in central New Ireland province.
The court heard that on Jan 31 last year, Sovit, Lutam, Tadang and Selam found Mikai, who was also from Pindiku, among some bushes listening to their conversation.
They dragged him to his home where they assaulted him and accused him of being a liar.
As he lay on the ground, they set him on fire.
A post-mortem showed that Mikai suffered a deep stab wound and burns on 80% of his body.