By Edwin Fidelis – EMTV News, Kokopo
The Kerevat police in East New Britain province are investigating the death of a 17-year-old girl after her body was found last week on the outskirts of Kerevat Township. Officers responded to a tip-off by community leaders shortly after the body was discovered.
A preliminary police investigation showed that the victim had a rope firmly fastened around her neck. She was a Grade 7 student attending Kerevat Primary School. Her body was found near the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI). She had been missing for at least two days before her body was discovered.
Police cannot confirm if she was murdered or if she had hung herself. Her partly decomposed body has been removed and brought to the Nonga General Hospital for a postmortem to determine her cause of death.
East New Britain’s Provincial Police Commander, Senior Inspector Joseph Tabali, says a preliminary investigation will resume after a postmortem report is made available.
“We are treating the incident as a suspicious death. Only the postmortem will determine how she died,” Tabali said.
It is understood a suspect has been apprehended and locked up at the Kerevat police station cell. But police say he hasn’t been formally charged until the postmortem and a formal investigation is completed.
