Rape Trial: Babysitter Does Not Believe Stepfather Would Do Such A Thing To Child
Ababysitter yesterday gave evidence in court in relation to a trial where a 32-yearold man allegedly raped his three-year-old adoptive daughter.
In court, the man and his defacto-partner are being referred to as the child's stepfather and stepmother respectively. The child is being referred to as the stepdaughter.
The babysitter, who is the second prosecution witness, said at the High Court in Suva, that she did not believe the stepfather would do such a thing to the child. The first witness was the three-year-old whose sitting was in a closed court on Monday.
The stepfather is charged with two counts of rape and is alleged to have raped his stepdaughter on March 16 this year in Navua.
The babysitter told the court that prior to the alleged incident she had been looking after the child for two years and the child never uttered the word ‘poke' to her.
She said on the day of the alleged incident the child was sleeping when she left at around 5pm.
She said the child's stepfather had returned from work and was at home with another when she left. At 7:30pm the babysitter received a call from the child's stepmother who asked her where she was when the alleged incident happened.
She said she questioned the child's stepmother as to what had happened to which she responded saying the accused had allegedly molested the child who was three-years-old.
The babysitter again received a second call from the child's stepmother after 8pm who said the child was at her sister's villa.
She said she could hear the child crying in the background.
Judge Justice Riyaz Hamza questioned the babysitter how she knew that the child was at the stepmother's sister's villa to which she said the child's stepmother had told the accused to drop her there. The following day on March 17, 2017 when the babysitter went back to work she said she found the child and her stepmother having breakfast on the table. She said when she entered the house the child told her that the stepfather allegedly poked her private region. Upon hearing this, the babysitter immediately questioned the child's stepmother as to who taught the child those words to which the stepmother responded ‘well the child has talked. We can't do anything'. The babysitter said when she heard those words from the child she felt down, frightened and did not know what to say.
She said she could not believe what she was hearing because the accused had always taken the child wherever she wanted to go and bought her whatever she wanted.
Defence lawyer Aseri Vakaloloma questioned the babysitter if she thought the child would have uttered those words to which she responded saying, ‘no'. Mr Vakaloloma questioned her if there was a possibility that someone told the child what to say to which she said, ‘yes.'
She also stated in evidence that the next day when she bathed the child and put on her diaper she never saw any injuries on the child's private region.
Two weeks after the alleged incident the babysitter mentioned that she was at the hospital for three days with the child and there was nothing found by the doctor upon examination.
She also stated that after returning from the hospital she was relieved of her job via a text message from the child's stepmother who told her that she would be informed about the status of her job upon completion of the case.
The trial continues today.