We need to know the truth, say the relatives of the late PMV driver, Joe Sap Kissa.
The late Kissa was picked up by police last Tuesday (Dec 13) over an alleged traffic infringement at the traffic lights near the Bisini soccer fields in Port Moresby. While transporting him to the Boroko Police Station, he allegedly jumped out of the moving police van.
Unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries the next afternoon (Dec 14), which resulted in PMV operators grounding their buses in protest on Thursday (Dec 15).
Kissa’s cousin, Creshier Newman, questioned why his 24-year-old brother was not handcuffed, and how he managed to open the van’s door, which was supposed to be locked from the outside.
“He’s not a baby, so obviously he would want to escape detainment,” a visibly upset Newman told Loop PNG.
“Can the police hierarchy come clear on the people involved in the incident? Those police officers know exactly what happened because they were with the deceased before the alleged accident.”
An eyewitness, who was on the PMV bus 13 that Tuesday afternoon, told Loop that she and the other passengers came out and walked to the nearest bus stop after police picked up the late driver.
“He tried to avoid the red light by going around the little ‘island’ at the Bisini road. Unfortunately, he dented a light pole in the process of turning the bus around the sharp turn,” the witness, who did not want to be named, said.
She said when Kissa saw the police van behind him, he opened the door and tried to escape, but was caught.
“All the passengers, including the crew, walked to Chinatown to get on another bus after we saw him sitting in the police van,” the witness stated.
“We were shocked when we heard that he had died. We had left him in the care of the police.”
She disputed the police statement saying the public tried to attack the late driver after he ran into the pole.
The late Kissa’s body is currently in the Port Moresby General Hospital morgue, awaiting postmortem.
He is survived by his father and elder sister. The Western Highlands family lost their mother in 2010.
(Left: The late Joe Sap Kissa. Right: Kissa after he was admitted at the Port Moresby General Hospital last Tuesday)