Teen girl beheads father after repeated rapes

A teenage girl beheaded her father with a bush knife after he raped her at their home in Papua New Guinea, a report said, with community leaders protecting her, saying the man deserved to die.

The Post-Courier newspaper said the 18-year-old chopped her father’s head clean off after he repeatedly raped her 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.

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.