Papua New Guinea's police chief has announced a major crackdown on domestic violence after ordering the suspension and charging of a provincial police commander for allegedly beating his wife.
The Oro Province commander Buafe Hugo's wife was flown to Port Moresby for medical treatment after being beaten.
The Police Commissioner, Gari Baki, has ordered Hugo be stood down and charged, and told reporters that wife beating would not be tolerated within the force.
Mr Baki says wife beating is a crime and he has warned all Papua New Guinean men who engaged in such acts that they will be arrested and charged.
His comments follow recent cases of brutal attacks on women including a husband's assault on his wife in which he kicked her in the ribs then ripped an unborn child from her womb.
That attack, in the Western Highlands, prompted a petition to PNG's parliament demanding a stop to violence against women.
