Unfaithful men should be accountable: Magistrate

By ROBINSON LEKA
MEN who are unfaithful to their partners should be held accountable for whatever action or dispute which may arise from their extra-marital affairs, a magistrate says.
Magistrate Cosmas Bidar made the comment when committing wife Velma Pera to stand trial in the National Court for allegedly murdering her husband’s new partner.
Pera, 26, from Kendae village in Southern Highlands, will be tried for the alleged murder of Diana Pawa on Sept 16 last year.
She had been married to Tailor Mark from Enga for three years before he left her to be with Pawa.
The court was told that Pera allegedly confronted Pawa at her home in Gordon and stabbed her on the shoulder.
Relatives of the Pawa’s landlord who saw the incident and attacked Pera.
Both women were injured and taken to the hospital. Pawa later died while Pera was admitted at the emergency ward.
She was arrested and charged after she was discharged from the hospital.
Magistrate Bidar said it was not much the court could do in such cases to deal with the husband.
“Currently there is no law to cover him. While one woman is deceased, another is facing years in prison. And the man is free to do as he pleases,” he said.
“We don’t have any law to deal with him. That’s the sad state of affairs we have.”
Pera will remains in custody to await her trial next month.