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http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/11/10/1068329488146.html
Port Moresby shocked by horrific home invasion
November 11, 2003
A horrific attack on a family in Port Moresby has prompted calls for Papua New Guineans to be granted the right to arm themselves against murderers and rapists.
In an incident that shocked a city accustomed to a high level of violence, 10 drunken bandits last week attacked a family home, murdering a man who tried to protect his wife and two daughters, aged nine and 13.
The woman and her daughters were forced to watch as their father was shot and chopped up with an axe.
The three were then dragged outside and pack-raped.
The wife said the criminals then placed her husband's body in their bed and set fire to the house.
While police have charged seven men with murder, rape, abduction and arson in relation to the attack, the alleged ringleaders remain at large.
PNG is expected next month to sign off on an Australian plan to deploy at least 200 police officers to combat crime.
Prominent PNG commentator Frank Kolma yesterday called on authorities to grant citizens the right to bear arms, and to implement a permanent curfew in lawless Port Moresby.
Mr Kolma said PNG's law enforcement agencies "do not have the capacity, resources or brainpower to bring criminals to justice".
"And do you think anything will come of this latest incident?" he asked in his column in The National newspaper.
"If past performance is anything to go by - absolutely nothing. We will wait, as always, for the day when a politician or a businessman or an expatriate family is attacked in a similar fashion before action is instituted."
He said citizens should be allowed to use firearms to protect themselves.
"It would be best, under the prevailing circumstances, to allow the citizen to arm himself and take his chances than to leave his life, family and property in the hands of an inept state and its agents," he said.
PNG has similar gun laws to Australia, whereby permits are issued only for specific purposes such as hunting and, in a few cases, protection.
The issue of new gun licences was suspended two years ago, sparking a lucrative market in the transfer of existing licenses which at more than $5000, are out of reach for the average citizen.
Mr Kolma said there was little to deter criminals in Port Moresby.
"Crime has become a profitable and even attractive venture. You do not have to work for it, just steal it. If you want sex, go out and rape. If somebody is successful, bring him down - permanently.
"This is fast becoming the way of life in Papua New Guinea."
The attack, in the squatters' settlement of Tete, was one of numerous murders and rapes reported each year in Port Moresby's sprawling outlying suburb of Gerehu.
While many Gerehu residents wrap their homes in barbed-wire and steel mesh, often the best protection is for residents to band together with fellow tribesmen.
However, this has also led to incidents of broader, more dangerous ethnic violence in the settlements.
Port Moresby shocked by horrific home invasion
November 11, 2003
A horrific attack on a family in Port Moresby has prompted calls for Papua New Guineans to be granted the right to arm themselves against murderers and rapists.
In an incident that shocked a city accustomed to a high level of violence, 10 drunken bandits last week attacked a family home, murdering a man who tried to protect his wife and two daughters, aged nine and 13.
The woman and her daughters were forced to watch as their father was shot and chopped up with an axe.
The three were then dragged outside and pack-raped.
The wife said the criminals then placed her husband's body in their bed and set fire to the house.
While police have charged seven men with murder, rape, abduction and arson in relation to the attack, the alleged ringleaders remain at large.
PNG is expected next month to sign off on an Australian plan to deploy at least 200 police officers to combat crime.
Prominent PNG commentator Frank Kolma yesterday called on authorities to grant citizens the right to bear arms, and to implement a permanent curfew in lawless Port Moresby.
Mr Kolma said PNG's law enforcement agencies "do not have the capacity, resources or brainpower to bring criminals to justice".
"And do you think anything will come of this latest incident?" he asked in his column in The National newspaper.
"If past performance is anything to go by - absolutely nothing. We will wait, as always, for the day when a politician or a businessman or an expatriate family is attacked in a similar fashion before action is instituted."
He said citizens should be allowed to use firearms to protect themselves.
"It would be best, under the prevailing circumstances, to allow the citizen to arm himself and take his chances than to leave his life, family and property in the hands of an inept state and its agents," he said.
PNG has similar gun laws to Australia, whereby permits are issued only for specific purposes such as hunting and, in a few cases, protection.
The issue of new gun licences was suspended two years ago, sparking a lucrative market in the transfer of existing licenses which at more than $5000, are out of reach for the average citizen.
Mr Kolma said there was little to deter criminals in Port Moresby.
"Crime has become a profitable and even attractive venture. You do not have to work for it, just steal it. If you want sex, go out and rape. If somebody is successful, bring him down - permanently.
"This is fast becoming the way of life in Papua New Guinea."
The attack, in the squatters' settlement of Tete, was one of numerous murders and rapes reported each year in Port Moresby's sprawling outlying suburb of Gerehu.
While many Gerehu residents wrap their homes in barbed-wire and steel mesh, often the best protection is for residents to band together with fellow tribesmen.
However, this has also led to incidents of broader, more dangerous ethnic violence in the settlements.
