Assault by Chinese couple grabs Authority’s attention

An assault case in Lae by a Chinese couple has caught the attention of officials from the PNG Immigration and Citizenship Authority.

35-year-old Shu Ding Wu and her husband, 36-year-old Ming Zheng, were both found guilty yesterday by the Lae District court, following an assault on Christmas Eve on a Lae-based journalist.

While many families were preparing for Christmas day with last minute shopping, three young children, including an 18-month-old, witnessed the insult and assault of their mother caught by a Chinese couple in Lae, simply for telling them to put out their cigarette in their retail shop, which was in the vicinity of the Kamkumung Mobil Service Station.

The couple, from the Fujian province in China, were arrested on Christmas. Shu was charged with insult while her husband assault.

Yesterday they appeared at the Lae District court, where they pleaded guilty to the respective charges after attempts to get an out-of-court settlement with the complainant, Lae-based journalist Julie Badui-Owa.

The managers of Sigo Investment were fined K500 each, and ordered by the court to pay K1,000 in compensation, penalties Badui-Owa thinks are not tough enough.

She believes the government should review labour and immigration laws for foreigners who come into the country to operate businesses.

Immigration officers in Lae are now further investigating the assault case.

Badui-Owa’s case is just one of many, where nationals are assaulted by foreigners who come into the country to do business.

Early Last year, a father and his son, also from Chinese Fujian province who operate a shop in Port Moresby’s China town, were arrested and charged for sexual assault against one of their employees. 

In February 2016, a man from Gulf Province was sentenced to death by hanging over the cold-blooded murder of four Chinese nationals at Koki, back in 2013. 

His reason for the act – poor wages and the fact that he was forced to get items from the shop for a deducted pay packet.

(The Kamkumung Mobil Service Station)

Author: 
Sally Pokiton