The two police officers who allegedly forced a woman to swallow two condoms at the Boroko Police Station, on Dec 4 last year, have been committed to stand trial at the Waigani National Court.
The Waigani District Court today ordered the committal of 22-year-old Pangia man Joshua Yawijah and his co-accused, 23-year-old Engan woman, Jacklyn Tanda, to stand trial.
They are expected to appear for listing before the National Court on Oct 10.
Their committal today comes after Magistrate Cosmas Bidar discharged the statement of the complainant, Evangelyn John Aitsi, because it found that the statement was signed by someone only known to the court as Babine.
Another issue that arose from the case was the fact that a copy of the recorded video was not given with the police investigation files to the lawyers of the accused for him to make submissions on.
The copy of the video was contained in the court file before the district court but was not included in the police investigation files or the hand-up brief.
Both accused wrote statements to the court after it found sufficient evidence against them.
Tanda in her statement said she was at “the wrong place at the wrong time” and the case was blown out of proportion by the media.
Yawijah’s statement on the other hand said he denied the allegations.
“Despite the fact that the Committal Court has made an order for the defendants to stand trial at the National Court, the prosecuting authority, the Public Prosecutor, will decide whether to bring the case to the National Court through an indictment with a written charge,” Magistrate Bidar explained to Yawijah and Tanda.
They both remain on their respective bails till their cases are finalised at the National Court.