Beliga attacks innocent boy; steals his phone
BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO
A parent is calling on authorities to address the issue of ‘beliga’ or daylight robbers in Honiara following his son’s near-fatal ordeal with one.
He also cautions members of public to be aware of beligas riding in buses and attacking victims.
The father, who asked not to be named, said his 19-year-old son was travelling on a bus servicing the Skyline/Mbokonavera road when he was stabbed with a scissors and had his mobile taken by a beliga (robber) on Thursday evening.
The incident has been reported to police. Police Media could not comment yesterday (January 20) when queried over the matter.
This incident unfolded before the eyes of the bus driver, his conductor and other passengers. No one stepped forward to help the boy.
The father claims that the bus driver and conductor could be aiding the beliga.
“The bus driver urged my son to give the beliga his phone when the robber demanded my son’s phone,” the father said.
According to witnesses the boy boarded the bus from Honiara City Council Skyline bus stop to go back to his house after purchasing cabbage from the Honiara Central Market.
The witness said it was when the victim was inside the bus the incident took place.
The suspect (beliga) sat next to the boy. The suspect then asked the victim for his phone but he refused.
The suspect then got angry and took out a scissors and stabbed the victim multiple times.
The victim’s father said his son suffered 10 injuries in total, on his back and his hands.
The witness said the beliga then instructed the bus drive to tell the victim to hand over his phone.
“The bus driver followed what the beliga requested and asked the victim to hand over his phone.
“The beliga took the phone and left,” the father said.
The victim was later transported to the National Referral Hospital for medical attention and is now on clinical treatment, the father said.
Speaking to the paper yesterday, a doctor at the national referral hospital emergency ward said the boy is lucky the wounds were superficial although they are situated in dangerous places, such as the back behind the lungs and heart, and the arms and near the neck, where major arteries are located.
