The woman who was allegedly assaulted by the police is not dead, as claimed by social media users.
According to NCD Metropolitan Superintendent Silva Sika, the woman was taken immediately to the hospital by the Commander of Gordon Police Station. Metsupt Sika asserted that online rumours of the woman having passed away, were false and deceptive.
According to Sika, police officers spoke to the victim at the hospital and she identified herself as Agnes Kewa, 36, a resident of Eight Mile suburb. She is from Pangia, Southern Highlands Province. She was receiving treatment at the Port Moresby General Hospital when police interviewed her.
The woman asserted that she had underlying medical issues, including TB, and that she needed to engage in marketing to survive. She said that police approached her and other street sellers on Tuesday morning at around 8am, while they were selling their wares in front of shops.
Ms. Kewa told how a police officer who was pursuing the vendors, had assaulted her. She continued by saying that she lost consciousness, while being carried to the Gordon police station. The police station commander then drove her to the hospital. She thanked him for doing so.
After obtaining her medical record from the hospital and CCTV footage from Gordon's businesses houses, Metsupt Sika confirmed that the matter will addressed.
He added that while operations at Gordon are back to normal, police at Gordon are under pressure to ensure that the area, which was once notorious, is safer for people to move about. This includes tireless efforts by police units including Sector Patrol Units, and NCDC Reservists, to ensure vendors conduct their business in designated areas. Some have chosen to ignore this.