Woman’s cry for help goes unanswered

TWO men tried to rape a woman near the University’s Flexible Learning campus at the Coronation Drive near Machine Gun beach in Madang on Sunday.
The victim cried for help and attracted the attention of a dean and campus security guards. However, the guards refused to go to the aid of the woman because the crime was happening outside the university’s gate.
The attempted rape case report has been posted on the DWU Community Broadcast bulletin board and circulated via email throughout the university and country.
The bulletin said Madang’s law and order woes were not just a settlement problem but also involved high profile and working class people.
“The rot goes much deeper and right into the fabric of society. If there ever were ‘The good old days’ in Madang, they are now gone forever,” the notice read.
The author of the notice, the Dean of the Faculty of Flexible Learning, Fr Phil Smith, said he was awakened  early Sunday morning by a woman yelling ‘No, No, Stop, Stop, Rape, Rape sompela help mi”.
Fr Phil then asked the Guard Dog Security personnel to help the woman in distress but they told him that the woman was calling for help outside the gate and that it was none of their business.
Fr Phil said he called the police at town station and Yomba but no one bothered to answer his calls. He then took a torch and approached the car where he found two men pushing a woman into the back seat.
“The men pushed the woman’s face against the seat to silence her but I could hear her muffled cries and they drove away.
“I then drove to Yomba station and told the police to go to the scene quickly in search of the vehicle. I was driving home after reporting the matter at about 1.30am when I spotted the car turning down the road near the Catholic Mission.
“So, I drove back to the police station and insisted they come with me. The car was found but the woman was missing,” Fr Phil wrote in the bulletin.
“One of the men, whom I know, said he returned to explain what he heard was simply a misunderstanding.
“I asked him what words I misunderstood, NO, STOP or RAPE. I insisted that the police arrest the two men and charge them …” Fr Phil reported on the notice.
The notice further stated that both men were not from settlements but “middle class” employees of businesses in Madang.
Police said there was no official report of the incident, adding that the matter was also not recorded on the police daily log.