Dingi v Motor Vehicles Insurance (PNG) Trust [1994] PGLawRp 630; [1994] PNGLR 385 (18 April 1994)

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DAMAGES - Motor vehicle accident causing death - Plaintiff/parents - Loss of support - Loss of expectation of bride-price - Assessment of.

An 18-year-old girl was killed when a motor vehicle on which she was travelling as a passenger went out of control and rolled off the road. Her father claimed for the loss of bride-price the family would have received in due course from the marriage of the deceased.

N1>1. Obligations that arise by custom following a death can be part of any claim.

N1>2. A claim which refers to potential loss of bride-price is valid and must be considered by the Court.

WOODS J: The plaintiff is the father of Ten Simin, who was a passenger on a motor vehicle which was travelling on the road between Kundiawa and Gumine on 20 June 1988 when it went out of control and rolled off the road down into the river. Ten Simin was injured and drowned.

There is an agreement on liability at 25% to be borne by the plaintiff and 75% by the defendant.

The deceased was 18 years old at the time of her death. This claim is brought by the father for the loss of bride-price which the father and family would have received in due course from the marriage of the deceased, and also for the loss of her contribution to the family by undertaking gardening and other such activities expected in the village environment.

The evidence is that she was a healthy young girl, and her father expected her to get married in the ordinary course of custom. And upon her marriage by custom, he expected that he and the family would have received benefit from what is termed bride-price. I have no difficulty in finding that there must be some loss to parents when children die. The difficulty is how to assess that loss. When a son dies, there is no doubt that the parents will lose some continuing support as they got older and complete support in their declining years. And I so found in the case Uokare v PNG [1988-89] PNGLR 655. However, there are different expectations with a daughter. The normal custom is that when a daughter marries she goes to live with the family or line of her husband and, in due course, may help support her husband's parents. So when this happens, there is the custom of a payment called bride-price, which is to compensate the parents for the work and effort they have put into bringing up the daughter, and also to cement the marriage and confirm that any children of the marriage will belong to the line of the husband. See Wan v Komun [1990] PNGLR 322.

In Inabari v Sapat [1991] PNGLR 427, the Judge, in considering the funeral expenses following the death of a young boy, found that such should include reasonable customary obligations. So the Court has considered whether obligations that arise by custom following a death can be part of any claim and has agreed with the customary method of calculation or consideration. I, therefore, agree that a claim which refers to the potential loss of bride-price is valid and must be considered properly by the Court.

It has been submitted by the defendant that the claim for bride-price is too remote and uncertain: there has been no evidence of marriage proposals, many girls now do not wed, and the custom of bride-price is decreasing. However, the girl and her parents come from a rural environment in the Simbu Province, and I have no reason to doubt whether she will get married. I find that it is highly likely. Even if she did not marry, there is the equal chance that she would stay with her parents and help to support them, so whichever way, her parents have a loss for which they are entitled to claim.

The difficulty is how to assess this claim. I have received evidence of an amount of bride-price being paid for a girl from the same village, and after allowing for the subsequent return of some of the wealth, there was a net gain of about K6,000. This figure seems to accord with the amounts that the father said he would have expected.

Of course, the court cannot be seen to support excessive claims for bride-price, but I find nothing excessive in an amount of around K6,000. Perhaps there should be some reduction for contingencies. So I will start with a figure of K6,000 and reduce it by K1,000 for contingencies. Then deduct 25% for contributory negligence, and the figure comes to K3,750. I will allow interest at 8% on that from the date of the writ till to-day, which assesses at K877.80.

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Papua New Guinea Law Reports

Dingi v Motor Vehicles Insurance (PNG) Trust [1994] PGLawRp 630; [1994] PNGLR 385 (18 April 1994)

PNG Law Reports 1994