A 20-year-old man has sought assistance from the Samoa Victims Support Group, after a village council ordered him banished if he doesn’t come up with a huge fine of 100 pigs and $1000 tālā.
President of SVSG, Siliniu Lina Chang, confirmed with the Samoa Observer newspaper that he is the first male to seek assistance with them.
“It’s sad to see these kinds of penalties by some of the villages, and what I believe is that by doing this, the village is abusing its people,” Siliniu said.
She could not confirm what the young man did, but she said this person was told by the village councils that he could not come back to the village unless he paid the fine.
“I don’t think this is the right way to deal with people breaking village rules, because most of the people do not work and they can’t afford these kinds of village penalties.”
Siliniu believes there should be other ways village councils should penalize youth, such as ordering them to serve community service for the village or at a faifeau’s land; rather than imposing heavy penalties which result in loss of homes, unemployment and crime.
“We will approach the village and seek assistance in bringing this young man back to his family and to ask them for forgiveness,” Siliniu said.
Photo: Samoa Observer
