A GIRL died at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara on New Year’s Day after her brother in-law allegedly stabbed her with a sharp knife.
Police confirmed the girl, from Isabel Province, died from multiple knife wounds to her thighs and shoulder a day after the New Year’s Eve attack in the Tenaru area, east of Honiara.
The suspect, who is married to his victim’s sister, had since escaped across the island and is now reportedly hiding in the Weathercoast.
A cousin of the girl told the Solomon Star that on Tuesday, the suspect reportedly refused to board an Isabel-bound ship with his wife and sister in-law at the Point Cruz wharf.
He grabbed his son instead and took him away. They spent the night with relatives at Rove.
Because of the husband’s action, the wife and her sister decided not to board the ship.
The next day, the wife and her sister went up to Tenaru in search of her son, but when they arrived at their house, they were told the husband was hiding in the bush with the son.
The wife and her sister went out searching and found the husband and the son in the bush.
They asked the husband to release the boy but he refused.
When the sister in-law approached him to let the boy free, the husband reportedly slapped the girl, who fell to the ground.
He allegedly took out his knife and stabbed the girl while she was on the ground.
At that moment, the wife grabbed her son and escaped with him.
The girl was later rushed to the National Referral Hospital but died later in the evening on New Year’s Day.
Police said they’ve ordered doctors to carry out a postmortem to ascertain the cause of death.
It’s understood relatives of the girl will meet with that of the suspect to sort out any compensation issues that may arise from the incident.
By ELLIOT DAWEA
