Wife killer Yasin gets life in prison
Convicted wife murderer Mohammed Yasin was given a mandatory life sentence yesterday in the Suva High Court and ordered to serve a minimum term of 18 years imprisonment.
While giving his sentence, Judge Justice Salesi Temo said the case demonstrated the futility of murder as a remedy to matrimonial disagreements. He said the sentence was designed to punish Yasin in a manner that was just in all the circumstances and to protect the community.
He added that it should deter would-be offenders and to signify that the Court and the community denounce the use of murder as a remedy to domestic disputes.
Fifty-six-year-old Yasin had been married to his wife for 27 years and in 2014 their marriage went through a crisis.
The Court heard that the couple used to argue a lot resulting in his wife taking out a Domestic Violence Restraining Order (DVRO) against him in March 2014. While they were separated the wife had affairs which angered and upset the accused and on November 16, 2014 while his wife was visiting his mother, Yasin stabbed her to death at Wailailai, Ba.
“There is only one penalty for murder and that is the mandatory life imprisonment. However the Court had discretion to set a minimum term of imprisonment to be served before a pardon may be considered by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Fiji,” Justice Temo said.
Yasin has been given 30 days to appeal to the Court of Appeal.