A woman in her early 30s has reportedly been murdered a few hours before dawn on Friday and it is suspected that the incident occurred at Melcoffee Area.
Daily Post has been told that the boyfriend has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in police custody for questioning.
Late Alice Karis was reportedly last seen alive at the Grand Hotel with her boyfriend, Jimmy Reuben, from Tongoa where eyewitnesses alleged that they were both drunk.
It was alleged that Reuben started assaulting the deceased inside the bar before they left for home at around 2am.
Daily Post has been informed that a bus driver was driving by and saw Reuben standing near the road and Karis was lying nearby.
The driver then stopped and asked if they needed any help.
Reports say that Reuben asked the driver if he could help him to put Karis inside the bus in which the driver did.
It was alleged that the driver asked him if they needed help then he would take them to Vila Central Hospital (VCH) but Reuben allegedly advised him to drive them home.
“The driver asked him to see if Alice (Karis) was ok and Reuben said she was a bit sick and needed to go home to get some rest.
“At Kawenu, Reuben asked the driver to cut every lights off and open the bus for him to take the body out and go inside the house,” Daily Post was told about the alleged events from Melcoffee to Kawenu.
Also a source within Promedical confirmed that Reuben gave them a call in the early hours yesterday claiming that his girlfriend was killed during an attempted robbery by some thugs at Kawenu area.
When the Promedical officers rushed to the scene, Alice Karis was reported to have already died.
It is understood that the victim sustained massive head injuries when Promedical arrived at the scene.
She was taken to Vila Central Hospital (VCH) where she was officially pronounced dead.
A reliable source within the police confirmed that more of the information will be revealed as the case progresses.
VCH could not release any information about the deceased but said that the body is now awaiting a full post-mortem to be conducted for the benefit of the Court’s determination of the case.
Relatives and Karis’s co-workers said that if reports about the assault are true then it is not the first time that Reuben assaulted the victim.
Karis was working at the Warhorse Saloon before and moved to Tanna two years ago because of her boyfriend’s new job.
When she returned to Port Vila, she was offered the job again at Warhorse Saloon. She had finished off her night shift before the tragedy occurred.
One of her best friends said with tears in her eyes, “A woman died working hard to feed her three children at home.
“This tragic incident has resulted in a family losing their loved one.
“My thoughts are with them at this extremely hard time.” READ MORE
SOURCE: VANUATU DAILY POST
