The Women’s Council in Kavieng, New Ireland Province, has condemned the gruesome killing of a young woman by her husband in town last Thursday 21st October 2021 and urged the Government to immediately enforce the Vagrancy Act and introduce nightly curfew in the province. Council President Ruthy Watlen said the attack with a golf club on the 24-year-old woman from Mussau by her 25-year-old husband from the Momase region was “shocking” and a tragic case of a helpless woman being killed in broad daylight in the presence of bystanders and watching public at a bus stop with no one stopping the perpetrator from the malicious act. “This is not the peaceful New Ireland I know of. The community is supposed to be protecting our women and girls. Husbands are supposed to be the keepers of their families. What happened last week demonstrates a sick society. We must not become complacent, we must not allow such acts to become normalized in our communities,” said Watlen. Walten strongly urged the Government to enforce the Vagrancy Law and repatriate settlers without jobs squatting on state and customary lands. She said she understands that the attractive living environments and rapid developments taking shape in the province brought about by the good policies of the Government is a pull factor for migrants from other provinces. She said if these people aren’t contributing anything to the province or just squatting around in illegal settlements then they must leave New Ireland and return to their respective Provinces. “Yumi olgeta gat wan, wan ples bilong yumi. Ples graun bilong yumi stap. Ino olsem ol narapela kantri where ol i lus lain olgeta. Sapos yu nogat wok long New Ireland, go bek long Provins blo yu na wok long giraun bilong yu. Pasin respect mas stap.” As the team leader for Gender Based Violence Issues in the Province, Watlen also said those people who were around her, when the incident happened are also equally responsible for her death by the mere fact that they did nothing to stop the perpetrator at the time of the murder. Photo courtesy: Robert Eklund