Dumo v Numi [2022] PGDC 22; DC8033 (24 February 2022)

DC8033

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

[IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF JUSTICE

SITTING IN ITS FAMILY JURISDICTION]

IPO NO 02 OF 2022
BETWEEN

LINDA DUMO
Complainant

AND

GABRIEL NUMI
Defendant

Waigani: O Ore Magistrate

2022: 02 & 24 February

CIVIL – Application for Protection Order – Objectives and Underlying Principles of the Family Protection Act of 2013

CIVIL - Complainant in need of protection – Domestic violence committed against the complainant over a long period is sufficient to obtain protection from the Court - Required Standard and Onus of Proof –Balance of probabilities – Pre-requisite for granting of Protection Orders – Act of Domestic Violence – Likelihood of further act of domestic violence – Interim Protection Order made Permanent.

PNG Cases Cited
Sundie v Aturoro [2017] PGDC 1 (12 September 2017)

Overseas Cases

References

Legislation
District Court Act
Family Protection Act 2013

Counsel
Complainant – In Person
Defendant – In Person

DECISION

24^th February 2022

1. O Ore, Magistrate: Linda Dumo first appeared before me on the 10^th of January 2022 seeking Interim Protection Orders against her husband Gabriel Numi. Being satisfied that the perquisites warranting a granting of the IPO were present; I accepted the application and granted the IPO.
   
2. Linda now appears before this Court seeking to have the IPO made permanent. She is in essence asking for a permanent protection order against the Defendant.
   
3. Linda has since served the IPO on Gabriel. They both appeared before the Court on the 17^th of January 2022 where directions were issued for both parties to file their relevant Affidavits in preparation for hearing.
   
4. This is my decision after hearing of submissions by both parties.
   

FACTS

5. Linda Dumo from Rigo in the Central Province is married to Gabriel Numi from Simbu Province. They have been married through custom and have lived together for 16 years. They have 3 children from the marriage who are 16, 4 and 2 years old respectively.
   
6. Both Linda and Gabriel are employed and leave with their two youngest children at Korobosea in a rented accommodation.
   
7. For the 16 years they have been living together, the Defendant has been a very abusive husband. In 2021, his abusive and violent behaviour escalated after the he started accusing Linda of having affairs with other men. The Defendant would come home drunk and regularly beat his wife up. Apart from using his hands to slap and punch Linda, he would use anything he could find to assault her. He even threatened to kill her and her family members. He also harassed and assaulted their eldest daughter by hitting her on the head and swearing at her.
   
8. On the 01^st and 02^nd of January 2022, Linda was physically assaulted by the Defendant to the point that she begged for the Defendant to kill her. She asked the Defendant to take her to the hospital. This was when she escaped by jumping over their fence.
   
9. She feared for her life and the welfare of her children and brought this matter to Court.
   

ISSUE

10. Whether the Interim Protection Orders granted on the 10^th January 2022 should be made permanent?
    

RELEVANT LAW

11. Sections 7 and 16 of the Family Protection Act 2013 provides the base on which a person may apply for a protection order and the power to the Court to make protections orders. Sections 7 and 16 are in the following words:
    

7. APPLICATION FOR A FAMILY PROTECTION ORDER:

(1) An application for a family protection order may be made by:

(a) the complainant; or

(b) any person on behalf of the complainant if the complainant has given his or her written consent for that person to make the application; or

(c) a qualified legal practitioner on behalf of the complainant if the complainant has given his or her written consent for that practitioner to make the application; or

(d) a police officer on behalf of the complainant if the complainant has given his or her written consent for that officer to make the application,

(2) Subject ta Subsection (3), an application far a family protection order must be made in the prescribed form,

(3) A failure to comply with Subsection (2) does not invalidate the application,

(4) An application to a court for a family protection order may be made -

(a) orally; or

(b) in writing.

(5) If the application is made orally, the court must reduce the application into writing as soon as practicable in the prescribed form.

16. COURT MAY MAKE PROTECTION ORDER.

(1) Following an application made under Section 7, a court may make a protection order against a defendant if the court believes on reasonable grounds that -

(a) the defendant has committed an act of domestic violence against the complainant; or

(b) the defendant is likely to commit an act of domestic violence against the complainant.

(2) In deciding whether to make a protection order, the court must take into account the following:

(a) the need to ensure that the complainant is protected from domestic violence; and

(b) the safety and well-being of the complainant; and

(e) the safety and well-being of other family members; and

(d) any other matter the court considers relevant.

(3) The court may include the name of a family member in a protection order made for the benefit of the complainant, if the court believes on reasonable grounds that the defendant has committed, or is likely to commit an act of domestic violence against that family member.

12. Under section 16 (1) (a) (b) of the FPA, the Court may make a protection order against a Defendant if it believes that the Defendant has committed an act of domestic violence against the Complainant or that the Defendant is likely to commit an act of domestic violence against the Complainant in the near future.
    
13. As per the case of Sundie v Aturoro [2017] PGDC 1 (12 September 2017), evidence has to be weighed on the balance of probabilities.
    

EVIDENCE

14. Linda during hearing, relied on her sworn statement of 07^th January 2022. She further relied on the statements by her father Mamata Dumo and sister Pepe Dumo. I accepted both statements into evidence after there was no objection from the Defendant.
    
15. Gabriel on the other hand did not file any statements or Affidavits. When asked if he wished to file his Affidavits, he stated that he preferred responding verbally.
    

ANALYSIS OF EVIDENCE

16. Evidence by Linda shows that the Defendant is a very abusive husband. Their marriage of more than 16 years has been marred with Domestic Violence where Linda has been the victim.
    
17. Linda has been assaulted both verbally and physically by the Defendant. She has been psychologically abused, harassed and intimidated by the Defendant. Her children and her family have also been at the receiving end of the domestic violence by the Defendant.
    
18. In her statement, the Defendant’s abusive behaviour escalated during December 2021 and into January 2022. On the 16^th of December 2021, the Defendant came home drunk and started accusing her of having an affair. He hit her on the head three times, slapping her face with his hands and continued hitting her on her back, shoulders and the rest of her body. He then accused his eldest daughter for covering up for the Complainant. He started assaulting his daughter by hitting her and afterword’s threatened his wife that he would kill her. Having satisfied himself, he took off with his friends.
    
19. On the 17^th of December 2021, the Defendant came home at 4am in the morning and started his accusations again. He verbally abused her and called her names like “Slut, Prostitute and Pamuk Meri”. He then started punching her on the head until their friends came and stopped him. She laid a formal complaint at the Boroko Police Station. The Complainant called the Defendant to inform him to attend to which he got angry and said “before I go there, I will make sure to terrorize everyone here when you come home’. He never attended to the Police Station and Linda never pursued the matter.
    
20. Linda was again harassed on the 24^th, 27^th and 29^th of December 2021. He was constantly verbally abusing and threatening her and accusing her of having an affair with other men. Whilst at work, the Defendant would call her and abuse her over the phone.
    
21. On the 01^st of January 2022, the Defendant got drunk and started verbally abusing the Complainant. He threated to kill her and one of her family members. He again accused her of having an affair with a Facebook friend and started hitting her with his hand on her head and body. She tried to escape but he chased her with a bush knife and dragged her back to the house. At his stage, she was helpless. Her neighbours were afraid to interfere or call the Police because they knew about the Defendant’s violent behaviour.
    
22. The Defendant continued beating Linda the next day which was the 02^nd of January 2022. He beat her up with metal wire, a piece of wood with rusty nail, scissors and anything he could find. Linda could not take it anymore and asked him to kill her. The pain was unbearable. She asked him to take her to the hospital. He agreed and took the children to the gate and Linda under the pretext of going back to look for her phone, jumped over the fence and escaped.
    
23. The photographs attached to her statement show the extent of injuries she sustained to her head, face and parts of her body. Linda’s statement is confirmed by her sister’s statement. Her sister Pepe Dumo was there when she was beaten up on the 02^nd of January 2022. Her attempts to help her sister and stop the Defendant from harassing her were unsuccessful because the Defendant was drunk and violent. The Defendant even threatened herself and her husband. They gave up stopping him and told him that “em meri blo you, you laik kilim em, em laik blo you. Mi tired pinis lo stopim you, you wok lo retaliate lo mipla tu. But I am telling you, anything happens to her, I will be the witness”. Pepe left after saying these words with tears flowing down her eyes. She was concerned and worried about her sister’s wellbeing.
    
24. The statement by Linda’s father Mamata Dumo, also supports her daughter’s statement. He states that Gabriel and Linda used to leave with them and left after Gabriel forced them to leave as he did not want to reside with them. He says that Gabriel during their stay was abusive whenever he got drunk. He had no respect for them and would swear at them and say words like, “Kaikai Kan, fucking ashole, idiot, noken hatim bel, bai mi kilim wanpla”. He would thereafter beat his wife and destroy all the household goods. He is a very abusive man.
    
25. In his reply which was given verbally, Gabriel says that what has been said by the Complainant in her statement is true. He said he does not hit the small children. He only hits their big daughter. He said that he was angry because of Linda’s family members. He asked for mediation. He puts all the blame for his anger on Linda’s family saying he took care of them. Linda’s family were always in debt and passed on the burden to them to repay. Linda’s family was depending on them too much. He says that all the statements are true except that he did not chase Linda out with a bush knife.
    

DISCUSSION OF LAW AND EVIDENCE

26. The Defendant admits that all the statements made are true par from the fact that he chased the Complainant with a bush knife. I refuse to accept this. Witnesses saw him chasing his wife with a bush knife.
    
27. From the evidence before me which is uncontested, I find Gabriel to be a very violent and abusive husband to his wife and abusive father to his children. His excuses that Linda’s family are the sole cause for his anger are baseless and hold no ground. He has no respect for his wife, children, his in-laws, neighbours and the surrounding community which he lives in. His constant beating of Linda led her to believe that her life was useless and not worth living for. The constant harassment and pain she was in was unbearable and she pleaded with him to take her life.
    
28. To me, this is quite serious. Had Linda not come to Court to seek protection, who knows what would have happened to her? She may have ended up with permanent injuries or far worse lost her life. The act of wife beating in my mind is a cowardly act that should be met with stiffer penalties. In such situations, the Defendants should be charged under the appropriate legislations and dealt with swiftly.
    
29. In this case, I find that Gabriel has committed an act of domestic violence against Linda. I also find further that the likelihood of him recommitting domestic violence in the future is very high.
    
30. Because of the above, I will make the IPO permanent and make the following Family Protection Orders below.
    

COURT ORDERS

31. I therefore make the following orders;
    
    1. The Interim Protection Orders (IPO) of 10^th January 2022 are made permanent and applies for a period of 12 months commencing on the date of service of the order on the Defendant and expiring at the end of that period unless renewed, revoked or varied.
       

Lawyer for the Complainant: Complainant in Person
Lawyer for the Defendant: Defendant in Person