Cab Driver Gets 11 Years Jail Time
A35-year-old taxi driver was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment on Monday for raping a 16-year-old girl at Suva Point on September 13, 2016. The accused, Rajinesh Kamal Narayan, was ordered to serve a non-parole period of 10 years.
He was charged with one count of rape which he denied throughout the trial. He was found guilty by High Court Judge Justice Salesi Temo in a judgment delivered on April 6, 2018 and was convicted accordingly.
While delivering Narayan's sentence, Justice Temo mentioned that the accused was married with three young daughters. He drove a taxi for a living and was known to the victim's family.
The accused drove for the same taxi business as the victim's father.
Justice Temo said rape of children was always a serious matter. (Under the law, a 16-year-old is considered a child. She is considered and adult if over 18 years old.) He said the aggravating factors were that the accused took advantage of the victim's naivety and vulnerability.
The accused actively befriended the victim to the extent of buying her a mobile phone so that he could access her whenever he wanted to despite her father's disapproval. Justice Temo said the accused proposed to be her boyfriend and had sex with her without her consent and took away her virginity during the offending.
Justice Temo warned would-be child rapists, saying that the abuse of children was not tolerated.
He said the accused had violated the victim's right as a child, a human being and her right to live a peaceful and happy life.
In mitigation, the accused stated that he had not offended in the past 10 years and has been on remand for four to six days. The accused was represented by private lawyer Tobia Ravuniwa while State lawyer Lavenia Bogitini appeared for the prosecution. Edited by George Kulamaiwasa