MAORI ASSAULTS SISTER.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 March 1916, Page 6

MAORI ASSAULTS SISTER.

INTENT ON MARRIAGE. | AN EXTRAORDINARY' CASK. i Auckland, Monday. Four prisoners Were sentenced by his Honor Mr. Justice Stringer on Saturday morning at- tlio Supreme Court. There were extraordinary features in connection with the charge of causing bodily harm to his sister, to which Manga Kato Pere, a Kaipara native, »ged 28 years, had pleaded guilty at the Kaikihe Court, Mr. E. C. Blomfleld, ivho appeared for the prisoner, said accused had never previously been before the Court, and bore the reputation of being one of the most industrious and respectable Maoris in the Kaipara. He was living with his mother and father and family and keeping them by his labors, the father being an invalid Pere occasionally dfank .too much, and, when he did so, he got quite out of control, going almost wad, There had been some suggestion that prisoner's sister should many and go away. While under the influence of drink he got the mad idea—extraordinary as it might seem—that he ought to marry his sister himself. It was during this drunken '.nood that he hit his sister on the head •vith a file. Counsel submitted that prisoner could not have been in a normal condition at the time, and suggested that the ends of justice might be met if his Honor admitted him to probation and ordered the issue of a prohibition order. The Hon. J. A. To!e, K.C., said the, notion of marrying his own sister had possessed Pere for the last few years. This and his drinking habits had caused his parents a lot of trouble. It was not a file which he bad struck his sister with twice oil - the head, but a blacksmith's rasp, a much more formidable weapon. When these amorous ideas got possession of him he became violent, jaud there was no knowing what might happen unless he was put under restraint. His Honor said it was an extraordinary case altogether. He did not suppose Maori custom tolerated the sort of marriage prisoner seemed' to be intent upon. Mr. Blomfleld said it was not the custom amongst the Maoris. There were isolated instances, however, and he believed that in Pore's family there vas some sort of precedent, the' grandfather being said to have married Mi granddaughter. There was a suggestion that another member of the family had married bis own niece. His Honor said prisoner's offence wag a very serious one. He might liave killed his sister. It was not a case for probation. His Honor considered that prisoner should be separated from his family and his sister for some little time to give him an opportunity of reflecting on his conduct and prevent the risk of the same thing happening again. Pere was sentenced to a term of reformative treatment not to exceed 12 months.