PNG girl beheads father after he rapes her: report

The Post-Courier newspaper said the 18-year-old chopped her father's head clean off after he repeatedly raped her last Tuesday night in their village in the poverty-stricken Pacific nation's Western Highlands.

The report cited a pastor as saying the father, in his mid-40s, had three other children and raped his daughter when they were alone in the house after the mother and the other siblings visited relatives.

Pastor Lucas Kumi said the man went to his daughter's room in the night and raped her repeatedly.

"The father wanted to rape his daughter again in the morning inside the house and that was when the young girl picked up the bush knife and chopped her father's head off," he said.

Community leaders are now refusing to hand the girl over to police, vowing to protect her.

"The people and leaders in our area went and saw the headless body of the father after the girl reported the incident to the leaders and the people and told her story of why she had killed her father," said Kumi.

"The daughter did what she did because of the trauma and the evil actions of her father so that is why we have all agreed that she remains in the community."

Violent crime, as well as witchcraft, is rife in Papua New Guinea with the government last month voting to revive the death penalty in a bid to deter offenders after a series of high-profile grisly incidents.

Brutality against women, including domestic violence and rape, is also endemic in the country.

Over the weekend, the Post-Courier reported that child prostitution is on the rise, particularly in the capital Port Moresby where many new nightclubs have sprung up, with young girls increasingly being forced into the sex trade.

Some are being pushed into selling themselves by their parents to help them cope with rising costs of living, it said, citing non-government organisations.

"Child prostitution is an issue so hidden from our public consciousness that the mere mention of it results in shock and denial," said one NGO.