ODPP must be applauded for setting precedent in rape ruling
Justice Goundar said for the two victims, the demons were real in the form of their own father.
High Court judge Justice Daniel Goundar has shown that rapists and child rapists will not be let off easy by the justice system. Yesterday, he sentenced a man to life imprisonment. The man, fathered a child after he raped his daughter. He went on to rape that child when she turn 10. Justice Goundar showed this beast no mercy and convicted him of seven counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault.
This is the first time a rapist has been jailed for life by our courts. The role the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) played in this need to be acknowledged as well.
Assistant DPP Dato’ Shaymala Alagendra herself led the prosecution team in this case and argued successfully that the lives of both victims will never be the same again after going through 31 years of abuse.
She needs to be applauded for the role she and her team played in setting precedence in the country.
The state prosecution had called an expert witness, the Director of the Human Rights in Trauma Mental Health Programme and a Clinical Professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Dr Daryn Reicherter, in this case to give expert evidence on the mental health consequences of sexual violence and rape on children.
In his evidence, Dr Reicherter said that this case was one of the worst he had ever seen and said both victims in this case had been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and showed severe anxiety symptoms as well as chronic suicidal thoughts and behaviour. Last month the Supreme Court had set another precedence in another rape case, also involving a man who raped his biological daughters.
In this matter, the rapist, again, the father had appealed to the Supreme Court against his sentence of 16 years. The Supreme Court after hearing that the Office of the DPP has filed additional material showing an increase in the prevalence of child rape in Fiji, the court agreed the sentence required an enhancement.
He was jailed to 17 years and nine months, with a nonparole period of 16 years.
The court also agreed with the State that it was necessary to review the previous tariff of 10 to 16 years for child rape offences.
The court concluded that the current tariff for child rape offences in Fiji is now 11 to 20 years imprisonment. The court also said that the tariff could be exceeded in particularly heinous cases.
And, that is not all. Under the guidance of the Director of Public Prosecutions Christopher Pryde, his office yesterday filed documents appealing three rape sentences. They are of the view that the sentences are lenient and harsher penalties need to be imposed.
The Office of the DPP is doing its job, the Judiciary is doing its job in sentencing these rapists.
Are you? Are you turning a blind eye to the abuse?
A74-year-old man who raped and indecently assaulted two of his biological daughters over a span of 31 years was yesterday jailed for life without parole by the High Court in Suva. Justice Daniel Goundar in his ruling strongly reprimanded the man, who is wheelchair bound, saying “Prison life will have some impact on you because of your disability, but physical disability is not an excuse to reduce your sentence.” He said the case was one of the worst to be presented in Fiji’s court history, calling the accused “a demon in human form.”
The sentencing comes after the landmark ruling by the Supreme Court last week, increasing the tariff for child rape offences in Fiji from 11 to 20 years imprisonment, compared to the previous 10 to 16year term in the past.
The case: First Victim
The accused had raped his daughter from the age of 10 years and impregnated her at the age of 14. The child, who was born out of the rape, was also raped by the accused when she turned 10.
The accused started his sexual campaign in 1982 when the first victim was 10-years-old and he was 38. He had raped her on various occasions inside their home and in the sugarcane field in the Western Division.
In 1986, the accused impregnated his biological daughter when she was 14.
After she gave birth, she was later married and lived a happy life with her family.
Justice Goundar, in his sentencing, also highlighted that the accused continued to rape her even when she was married and pregnant with her husband’s child in 1992.
Second Victim
For the second victim, the accused started the sexual campaign in 1997 till 2013.
The victim, who is the man’s biological daughter and granddaughter was 10-years-old when he started his sexual campaign. The last incident occurred when the victim was 23-years-old and the accused was 69.
Conviction and ruling
The 74-year-old man was convicted for seven counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault. Justice Goundar said for the two victims, the demons were real in the form of their own father. “You preyed on your biological daughters when they were minors. “Your conduct is unspeakable and your crime is undisputed. The victims were traumatised and felt suicidal.
“Your daughter gave birth to a child when she herself was a child. Your wife knew about the incidents but kept quiet as you had the authority and control over your family,” Justice Goundar said.
He said the case represented a very disturbing behaviour by a father to his children.
While sentencing, Justice Goundar said that old age was not a mitigating factor especially in sexual offences.
“Your age is not exceptional to grant you mercy. Old age is not a licence to commit an offence.” Justice Goundar had issued a permanent domestic violence restraining order with a non-molestation and no contact with the victims order.
The judge did not impose any nonparole period as he sentenced the man to life imprisonment for each count of rape and five years for each count of indecent assault.
Your age is not exceptional to grant you mercy. Old age is not a licence to commit an offence.
Justice Daniel Goundar High Court judge
The accused had raped his daughter from the age of 10 years and impregnated her at the age of 14. The child, who was born out of the rape, was also raped by the man when she turned 10.