Kaiwi to undergo quarantine before moving into main Bomana prison

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

Bhosip Kaiwi, the man accused of murder in the Papua New Guinean torture case, will be held at the Correctional Services Training College at Bomana to undergo 14 days of quarantine under the government’s covid-19 requirement, reports the PNG Post-Courier.

He will remain there until he is cleared before joining the general population at the Bomana jail.

He will be under the watchful eyes of prison warders.

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On Tuesday, the man accused of killing the mother of his two children arrived under heavy police guard at the Waigani District Court as a large number of interested public and his dead partner’s family gathered outside to catch a glimpse of him.

Getting off the police vehicle, Kaiwi had his head covered with a white towel and was led into a waiting room at the courthouse by the NCD homicide and CID officers.

The angry crowd who watched the arrival called for the removal of the towel on his head.

“Rausim towel lo pes blo em!” (“remove the towel on his head”), “bai mipla paitim em!” (“let us belt him”), and “wanem kain man yah!” (who does he think he is) were some of the comments hurled at him as he was led into the courthouse.

Angry crowd outside court
He sat in a waiting room for a few minutes, awaiting his turn to appear before Magistrate Tracey Ganai.

After reading his charges, Magistrate Ganai issued a remand warrant that Kaiwi be moved from the Boroko police station cell to Bomana until his second appearance on July 30.

After that he was led out again to an angry crowd calling for his head and was rushed into the police vehicles back to Boroko police station, where he waited for the warrant to allow him to be taken up to the CS quarantine site.

Correctional Services Commissioner Stephen Pokanis, when asked about reported threats against Kaiwi, said an assessment would be done and appropriate protection measures would be taken.

“Yes. The commanding officer and his officers will assess the situation, the threats and dangers, and where required, they will separate the detainee from other detainees.

“On a positive note, many detainees at Bomana are Godly people who will provide support to any person who is incarcerated at the institution,” Pokanis said.