Bepi v. Simon, 14 November 1986.
The appellant had left her husband and, with one child of the marriage, returned to her family after mistreatment by the husband. Subsequently the husband issued a summons against the appellant charging desertion and seeking repayment of brideprice and custody of the child. When the wife did not appear, she was arrested and sentenced to two months' imprisonment.  Upon a hearing of the summons, she was ordered held one month until her relatives repaid the brideprice and custody of her child was given to her husband. When the brideprice was not paid, she was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment. On appeal of these rulings, the Court held, among other things, a) that the lower court had no jurisdiction to entertain a complaint against the wife for desertion or a complaint seeking custody of the child, noting, moreover, that the wife had ample reason to leave her husband; b) that the imprisonment of the wife for failure to repay the brideprice was beyond the court's powers since it was authorized to take this action only for non-payment of fines, and was unconstitutional since a person cannot be deprived of personal liberty in order to secure fulfillment of contractual obligations; and c) that the claim for repayment of brideprice could not succeed, since no evidence had been produced of the relevant customs relating to the payment and repayment of brideprice.
D001519:Behavior; D002655:Child Custody; D002668:Child Rearing; D003906:Developing Countries; D004243:Divorce; D007603:Jurisprudence; D008393:Marriage; D008542:Melanesia; D010139:Pacific Islands; D010219:Papua New Guinea
Behavior; Child Custody--legal aspects; Child Rearing; Court Decision; Developing Countries; Dowry--legal aspects; Marriage--legal aspects; Melanesia; Nuptiality; Oceania; Papua New Guinea; Separation--legal aspects