Woman claims police assaulted her at counting venue

ESSY Luke was one of the casualties allegedly struck by two policemen in the chaos at the Rita Flynn counting centre in Port Moresby as it was being cleared recently.
Luke said she was hit on the head which bled and the officers then took her phone off her.
She said when she went to the Boroko Police Station on Sunday, July 24, to file a complaint she was verbally abused and threatened by the same officers.
Luke said she was at a makeshift market opposite the Rita Flynn netball courts when she saw officers come in a patrol car and start chasing vendors and others away.
When approached by the officers, she explained that she was there on behalf of her candidate and presented identification but she was allegedly assaulted with a softball bat.
Luke recalled seeing others in the area also being attacked by the officers.
She said while it was necessary to clear the area the officers had assaulted her and taken her phone.
“I went to Boroko station to make my complaint at the front desk telling them I had been hit like this and showed them the blood stains, but they told me they would not write it,” she said.
National Capital District Metropolitan Superintendent Gideon Ikumu told The National that he would look into the incident and if the allegations were true the officers would be dealt with.
“In my term as Met Sup and with the leadership of Assistant Commissioner Anthony Wagambie Jr, there are a lot more officers being criminally charged because these days policemen are not afraid to go to Bomana prison,” he said.
“If that allegation is true, we will deal with this stupid behaviour that is not acceptable at all.”
Luke claimed she was taunted and assaulted again by the two officers before they finally returned her phone.