PNG tribesman attacks young couple with arrows
Source: Agencies |
July 6, 2011, Wednesday
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A YOUNG couple who took a dip in a river in a remote part of Papua New Guinea are recovering from a harrowing attack by a tribesman who shot the man with arrows twice before attempting to sexually assault the woman.
Police in Papua New Guinea said the attacker is being sought, and a hospital official said the suspect previously has been imprisoned for rape.
The couple have declined requests to speak to the media, but interviews this week with the local doctor who first treated the pair, along with other accounts from Papua New Guinea, are shedding new light on the rare attack near Nomad in the isolated North Fly District.
Dr Charlie Turharus said the tribesman had been covertly tracking the pair for perhaps an hour or two before the June 19 attack. He fired an arrow at Matt Scheurich as the 28-year-old New Zealander relaxed on a river bank while his girlfriend, a French doctoral student studying tribal life, swam in the river.
The first arrow hit Scheurich on the right side of his chest, Dr Turharus said. The attacker then emerged from his hiding spot and fired a second arrow at Scheurich which hit him in the left side of his chest and deflected down into his stomach. The attacker also threw rocks at Scheurich's head.
The man then attempted to sexually assault the French woman, but she managed to bite his hand and run to a nearby village, where she activated a personal locator beacon.
Fortunately for the pair, there was an airstrip near the site of the attack. Scheurich was rescued from the riverside where he was "bleeding in pain and in agony," the doctor said
But bad weather prevented the pair from being transported to a large regional hospital, Rumginae, and the couple were instead taken to the small and basic Kiunga Hospital where Dr Turharus, who works for the Ok Tedi Mining company, operated on Scheurich.
After being treated at Kiunga Hospital, Scheurich was transported first to Port Moresby and then to Cairns in Australia, where he was admitted to Cairns Base Hospital.
Dr Turharus said the couple was traumatized by the incident.
Dr Daniel Priest, Rumginae Hospital medical superintendent, said the suspect has committed previous attacks. "The perpetrator is a known felon who has been imprisoned before for rape and has supposedly offended at least four times."
Police in Papua New Guinea said the attacker is being sought, and a hospital official said the suspect previously has been imprisoned for rape.
The couple have declined requests to speak to the media, but interviews this week with the local doctor who first treated the pair, along with other accounts from Papua New Guinea, are shedding new light on the rare attack near Nomad in the isolated North Fly District.
Dr Charlie Turharus said the tribesman had been covertly tracking the pair for perhaps an hour or two before the June 19 attack. He fired an arrow at Matt Scheurich as the 28-year-old New Zealander relaxed on a river bank while his girlfriend, a French doctoral student studying tribal life, swam in the river.
The first arrow hit Scheurich on the right side of his chest, Dr Turharus said. The attacker then emerged from his hiding spot and fired a second arrow at Scheurich which hit him in the left side of his chest and deflected down into his stomach. The attacker also threw rocks at Scheurich's head.
The man then attempted to sexually assault the French woman, but she managed to bite his hand and run to a nearby village, where she activated a personal locator beacon.
Fortunately for the pair, there was an airstrip near the site of the attack. Scheurich was rescued from the riverside where he was "bleeding in pain and in agony," the doctor said
But bad weather prevented the pair from being transported to a large regional hospital, Rumginae, and the couple were instead taken to the small and basic Kiunga Hospital where Dr Turharus, who works for the Ok Tedi Mining company, operated on Scheurich.
After being treated at Kiunga Hospital, Scheurich was transported first to Port Moresby and then to Cairns in Australia, where he was admitted to Cairns Base Hospital.
Dr Turharus said the couple was traumatized by the incident.
Dr Daniel Priest, Rumginae Hospital medical superintendent, said the suspect has committed previous attacks. "The perpetrator is a known felon who has been imprisoned before for rape and has supposedly offended at least four times."
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