Suspects in horrific PNG torture murder case released on ‘human rights’ grounds

The release of eight men captured on a video of the torture and murder of a Western Highlands woman accused of sorcery has sparked fresh outrage in PNG.

Rosa Yakapus endured three days of torture before being murdered in the PNG highlands.

Papua New Guinea’s police commissioner has demanded the re-arrest of eight suspects in the torture and murder of a Western Highlands woman accused of sorcery after they were released on “human rights” grounds by a local court because police and prosecutors had failed to lay charges within the prescribed time.

The move has sparked fresh outrage in a country where violence against women and girls has become a national emergency, with Hela Province Governor ­Philip Undialu questioning official commitment to prosecute the case.

“The notion that such a serious case can be dismissed in just days is not only disappointing, it is dangerous,” Mr Undialu said.

“We must ask; why did CID fail to prepare charges? Why were the suspects not remanded at Hawa prison?”

PNG Police Commissioner David Manning told The Australian the release last Friday of all eight men from the Tari district police lock-up – just under three weeks after they were surrendered by their own communities – was “unacceptable” but community unwillingness to provide witness statements over the horrific crime was part of the problem.

“I’m not here to make excuses. We are very frustrated and disgusted by the outcome and we will not let this go,” Commissioner Manning said.

“It obviously does not instil any confidence in what the RPNGC (Royal PNG Constabulary) does in these cases but at the end of the day we are only as good as the communities we serve. A big part of enabling us to do our job is the community needs to be on board.

“We have issued a directive to the PPC (Provincial Police Commander) up there to bring these eight men into custody again. If he needs resources, we can send experienced investigators from Port Moresby.”

Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary Commissioner David Manning with then attorney-general Mark Dreyfus in December 2024. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

The men were surrendered by village elders to police early this month after extremely distressing videos began circulating online showing the sexual-related torture over three days of a local mother of five, Rosa Yakapus, at the hands of a village mob in the Western Highlands province of Hela.

She was abducted in Ugu, Margarima district, after her estranged husband died of a suspected heat attack and his relatives accused her of sorcery.

Western Highlands people have not traditionally believed in witchcraft but sorcery accusation-related violence (SARV) there is now a huge problem that disproportionately affects women and girls amid resentment at uneven development, mass unemployment and soaring inter-tribal ­violence.

Graphic footage taken by Yakapus’s torturers and multiple onlookers show her stripped naked and tied by her wrists and ankles to two poles, her legs spread wide and a fire burning beneath her.

In other videos she is being tortured with hot sticks and knives.

A final video shows her cowering at the edge of a village bridge before she is shot dead.

In a province where huge police and military resources are dedicated to protecting multi­billion-dollar goldmine and LNG projects, the case has raised questions over a failure to rescue a woman whose impending murder had been broadcast through viral video.

Australia has sunk billions of dollars into building up PNG’s defence, police and legal institutions in the past decade, $637m this year alone in development assistance; and another $600m to support a Port Moresby-based team in Australia’s National Rugby League – all in the interests of geostrategic security.

In December 2023, the federal government announced an extra $200m for PNG police training and judges as part of a new security pact designed to help foil China’s regional ambitions, while last September the Australian Federal Police opened a joint ­policing office in Mount Hagen, in the Western Highlands.

Despite local police being alerted to the crime well ahead of her murder, there were no resources to save Yakapus, nor for many thousands of PNG women and girls every year who face beatings, torture and sorcery accusation-­related mob killings.

Commissioner Manning told The Australian PNG had just 7000 regular police officers for a population of 12 million people, but the Western Highlands posed an even greater challenge because of its remoteness, high levels of poverty, violence and traditional beliefs.

PNG Hela Province Governor Philip Undialu. Picture: Facebook

The region hosts the country’s largest and wealthiest resource development projects and some of PNG’s most impoverished communities, all among the world’s most hostile environments for women and girls.

“The whole country has moved on as it has modernised but unfortunately the region not only poses a law and order challenge for us but also a society challenge,” Commissioner Manning said.

“There are influential people who would rather maintain the status quo than see communities transition to a more modern, lawful, fair and safe society.”

ANU professor Miranda Forsyth, a director of the International Network Against Witchcraft Accusations, said the release of the eight suspects was “symptomatic of the ongoing failure of PNG’s justice system to adequately apprehend, charge and prosecute those who commit sorcery accusation-related violence”.

“Although Prime Minister James Marape’s statements following the news of Ms Yakapus’s torture focused on the need for new laws and heavier penalties, the reality is the current laws and penalties are adequate,” she said.

“What is missing is the resources, training and institutional and political will to properly enforce the law that exists.

“Until this occurs, we are likely to witness ongoing impunity for those who commit these heinous acts.”