Woman charged over torture

By PHOEBE GWANGILO
A WOMAN described by police as the guardian of the seven-year-old girl believed to have been tortured over a period of time has been charged with attempted murder.
Officer in charge of the Western Highlands family sexual violence unit Betty Ohuno told The National yesterday that Rosemary Juke would be appearing in the Mt Hagen District Court on Monday.
The girl is recovering at the Mt Hagen General Hospital.
Juke, believed to be in her late 20s, and the guardian of the seven-year-old, allegedly tortured the girl on June 28 at her village in Bukapena, Mul.
Ohuno said Juke then brought the girl to the Bukapena Health Centre but the nurse could not treat her there because of the seriousness of her injuries.
Ohuno said the girl was then taken to the Mt Hagen General Hospital.
“On July 2, the case was reported and I took up the matter,” Ohuno said. “When we went to arrest the suspect, she escaped.”
Police then arrested her mother when she refused to give them information on Juke.
“When the relatives saw that the mother was arrested, they brought the suspect,” Ohuno said.
She said the girl had knife wounds, broken bones, burnt lips and genital. Police arrested Juke last Friday and charged her with attempted murder.
“We have no independent witnesses as yet from the people who witnessed the incident,” Ohuno said.
“But we are working on (information) we have gathered from medical experts.”