Violent deaths [1]
Saturday, November 30, 2002 - 09:00. Updated on Thursday, February 18, 2016 - 19:06.
From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 17, no. 3, November 2002.
Tonga’s Friendly Islands image has been marred by the increasing number of violent deaths in the country during the past two years.
Chief Inspector Opeti Prescott, who is responsible for the police records, reported that 2002, up to October 30, was the worst year so far, with seven murder cases and three manslaughter cases, compared with four murder and one manslaughter in the previous year. The three manslaughter cases this year resulted from traffic accidents.
This year all of the murder cases were committed by males between the age of 20 and 26 years.
In the last two years, three of the murder cases involved the deaths of teenagers as a result of being beaten by parents or guardians; two cases were committed by males suffering from mental illness; and five cases were the result of fights between males.
Tonga still retains the death penalty for murder, but the last hanging was in 1983. The 15 years life imprisonment is an alternative sentence, which may be reduced to 10 years for manslaughter.