A Tongan radio station promised to call the police this morning after shocking allegations were made on air about a woman beating her mother in Maʻufanga and dragging her along the road.
Allegations about the assault were made on Radio FM 87.5 after a caller complained to the station’s talkback show.
A Police media spokesperson told Kaniva News this afternoon she was tracking down the matter from Police information unit.
The caller claimed a mother had repeatedly tried in vain to escape while her daughter beat and verbally abused her.
She alleged the mother has been dragged from a car and on the road while neighbours watched.
It was also alleged the mother, who is in her 70s, had been held against her will and forced to bathe on her own after being beaten.
It was claimed the mother was losing weight and regularly sought help from her neighbour.
At one stage the neighbour had threatened to call the Police when the daughter allegedly arrived at her home to retrieve her mother after she tried to escape while she was being beaten.
Radio host Katalina Tohi said she was shocked to hear about the incident and said the radio station would contact the Police.
“That’s cruel,” she told the caller.
The caller alleged the incidents began late last year after the mother returned from the United States, but because she respected her neighbour she had been reluctant to call Police.
She said this morning she had reached the stage where she could bear it no longer when she saw the mother being dragged inside the house and beaten.
She said they could tell when the mother was being beaten because they could hear her crying and screaming.
She said that recently, while they knew she was being beaten, they could not hear her voice, a sign she was physically losing energy and weight.
The woman appealed to the radio station to do something to help as the situation was deplorable.
She said she would not go into details on the matter, but she was willing to give evidence with her family if there was legal action to save the mother.
The main points
- Tongan police are investigating claims a woman was beaten and dragged along the road by her daughter.
- The investigation began after allegations about the assault were made on Radio FM 87.5 this morning after a caller complained to the station’s talkback show.
- A Police media spokesperson told Kaniva News this afternoon she was tracking down the matter from Police information unit.
- The caller claimed a mother had repeatedly tried in vain to escape while her daughter beat and verbally abused her.
