Wife dies, man arrested

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By MIRIAM ZARRIGA
POLICE have arrested a man who allegedly killed his wife, 10 years his junior, Western Highlands commander Chief Insp Jacob Kamiak says.
The man, when arrested, told police: “I killed my wife. I know I am in trouble”.
Police found the body of the wife, Imelda Tupi, wrapped in blue canvas in the back of a vehicle belonging to the husband.
Police had stopped the vehicle at the Swine Flu checkpoint in Kagul, Western Highlands. The husband and two others were arrested.
According to Southern Highlands police commander Supt Martin Lakari and Chief Insp Kamiak, the three suspects were picked up near Kaupena.
“The vehicle had passed the initial check-point with Highway 17 stopping the vehicle due to the suspicious behaviour of the occupant.
“The occupants were asked to open the doors but they refused and turned the vehicle around,” Chief Insp Kamiak said.
The police officers then advised the Highway 17 patrol officers to check the vehicle.
“They stopped the vehicle at Kaupena. The officers found the canvas at the back of the vehicle.
“While the vehicle was being driven down to Mt Hagen, the husband allegedly tried to bribe the policemen by offering to pay them K100,000 if they freed him,” he said.
Chief Insp Kamiak said his men allowed the husband and two others to wait at a lodge while they took Tupi’s body to the Mt Hagen General Hospital mortuary.
“After leaving the body at the hospital, they then headed to the police station where they advised the policemen on duty what had occurred between them and the suspects.
“They went back to the lodge and arrested the three.”
Tupi, from Longo village, Lower Mendi local level government, was formally identified by her father, Tupi Tiamanda.
He said Imelda had married a doctor.
“My daughter is the eldest of my six children. She met him while she was a student at the University of Goroka.
“She left school to be with him but over the years, the two have had disagreements and fights, with Imelda jumping off the verandah of her home to escape her husband’s beating at one time,” he said.
“Recently the husband started a relationship with another woman who turned out to be a relative of ours.
“The other woman became pregnant while studying at UPNG and became his second wife.
“Imelda, feeling uncomfortable with the arrangement of another woman, who was her cousin becoming the second wife, returned to Goroka to live with me.
“In the past couple of months, the two reconnected, with Imelda visiting her husband several times.
“She left two weeks ago and that was the last time I saw her.
“I was not aware of the pictures (of Tupi) until I was alerted to a Facebook post by a relative in Mendi who called. I checked and called all my relatives to double check, and confirmed that it was my daughter.”