‘Bad marriage made me murder my four children’

By James Apa Gumuno

A 25-year-old woman, who drowned her four children in Mt Hagen’s Warakum River last July, blamed her unhappy marriage and husband for the tragedy. Elis Onda pleaded guilty to four charges of wilful murder but told resident judge Justice Allan David that it was not her fault.

The children were Angelin Onda, eight; Tracy, seven; Naomi, five; and Solomon, two. The mother of four threw her youngest two into the river while they were still fast asleep and dragged her other two elder daughters into the river to drown at about 4am on July 4.

“I committed the crime because of my husband. I am sorry for my children, sorry for the killing,” she told the court. Elis, who is from Kuiya village outside Mt Hagen, said she would accept whatever decision the court made.

The caskets of the four drowned children before their burial

State lawyer Joe Waine told the court on Wednesday that five months prior to the incident, Elis unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide and later tried to take away the life of her children because she could not come to terms with her family problems after her marriage in 1999.

“At about 11pm on July 3, she dressed up her children and herself to visit a relative in Warakum. “When they arrived at the banks of Warakum River, she and her children stopped to rest. At about 4am, Elis lifted her son, Solomon, who was fast asleep and threw him into the river.

“She did the same to Naomi, who was also fast asleep. She then pulled two elder daughters into the river and they both drowned. “Elis was swept to the other side of the river and saved,” Waine said.

Elis surrendered to the police early in the morning and informed them about the incident. Waine told the court that Elis’ marriage was not a happy one and she encountered many family problems.

Defence lawyer Peter Kumo, from the public solicitor’s office, told the court that he did not have any application to make regarding Elis’ guilty pleas. Allan accepted her pleas and asked the probation office to file a report for the hearing next Thursday.