Maximum Sentences
Two judges, in two separate rape cases, delivered maximum sentences this week in cases involving victims who were the daughter and step-daughter of the perpetrators.
It was indicative of the courts decision that rapists will be dealt with severely.
In the first sentencing, High Court Judge Justice Thushara Rajasinghe said rape was one of the most humiliating and distressing crimes.
Case of a daughter rape
He sentenced a 69-year-old man to 15 years and two months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 13 years and two months at the High Court in Labasa on Wednesday.
The man was convicted for one count of rape. He, being the father of the victim, had carnal knowledge with the victim without her consent. The incident happened on November 1, 2015.
The victim was 15-years-old at the time of the incident and the man was 65-years-old. Justice Rajasinghe said: “Rape becomes a more serious crime when it is involved with a child victim and the perpetrator is closely related to the child victim.
“This is a case of incestuous father, using his own daughter for sexual gratification. “Turning that trusted dependable person into a monstrous demon who penetrated into the innocent childhood of the child and destroys it with his own lustful sexual satisfaction, would undoubtedly jeopardise the child’s entire future life.
“Therefore, incest is a rape by extortion, in which a child’s very childhood becomes a weapon used to control her. Hence, I find the rape of this nature a very serious crime,” Justice Rajasinghe said. Justice Rajasinghe told the man that he had breached the trust of the victim who had him as her father.
“You used the vulnerability of this victim to fulfil your most disgraceful sexual desire,” Justice Rajasinghe said.
Case of a step daughter
In the second case, Judge Justice Chamath Morais on Tuesday sentenced a stepfather who was found guilty and convicted for four counts of rape. The man had raped his step-daughter between December 1, 2017 and July 12, 2018 in the Central Division.
The state had submitted the victim impact assessment report, and it revealed that the incidents had lasting effects on the victim.
The victim in the matter was under the age of 13 years during the time of the offence.
While sentencing the man, Justice Morais said: “Rape is generally regarded as one of the gravest sexual offences and it violates and degrades a fellow human being.
“Sexual offenders must be deterred from committing this kind of offence.
“The aggravating factor was a serious breach of trust. The victim had looked to you as a trusted person and you breached that trust,” Justice Morais said.
The man was jailed for 15 years and five months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 13 years and five months.
Meanwhile, the two were given 30 days to appeal to the Fiji Court of Appeal. Edited by Ranoba Baoa