Fijian Soldier, 40, Allegedly ‘Raped Woman, Sexually Assaulted Another On Same Night’
■ Serupepeli Niubasaga invited to barbecue in the Duke of Gloucester barracks ■ The 40-year-old making rum punch at event when the alleged victims arrived ■ Corporal Serupepeli Niubasaga has pleaded not guilty to the alleged offences
Asoldier has gone on trial accused of raping one woman and sexually assaulting another during the same night after army barracks barbecue. Corporal Serupepeli Niubasaga, 40, who lives in Hullavington, England, pleaded not guilty to the the alleged offences, which occurred on May 26 and May 27 last year. At Gloucester Crown Court yesterday, prosecutor Ray Tully told the jury that the two alleged victims knew each other and one was visiting the other at South Cerney, near Cirencester.
They were invited out to a barbecue in the Duke of Gloucester barracks and decided to attend. Corporal Niubasaga had also been invited to the event and was making a rum punch when the women arrived.
Mr Tully said: “Niubasaga made it known that he objected to the way one of the women was dressed and he believed that others at the barbecue were of the same opinion. “A little while later one of the women became a little worse for drink and had slumped in a chair and had gone to sleep. “Barbecue-goers kept an eye on the woman and in the mid-evening she was escorted back to where she was staying. “Corporal Niubasaga also volunteered to help take her back with the other woman and placed her in bed.”
However, within 20 minutes the woman had recovered enough and she was back at the barbecue. Mr Tully told the jury that Niubasaga had gone to another barbecue a short distance away and told his new hosts that he had taken a woman home and that she had asked him for sex, but he declined.
“A little later another witness heard Niubasaga say ‘I’ve been a bad boy’, the prosecutor said.
The drink also got the better of him and he was sent home at 11.30pm and was escorted for most of the way.”
The court was told that the visiting woman had left the barbecue and had gone to bed and a short while later the second woman also left to go home.
Mr Tully said: “When she went upstairs in her own home Niubasaga was in the house. She was surprised when he started talking to her.
“The pair went downstairs and he sat on the sofa next to her. The next thing the woman knows is that Niubasaga had knelt down in front of her and began touching her up. “He told the woman that he didn’t like the way she dressed and said that it would invite unwanted attention. At this point he pushed her legs apart and touched her private parts and attempted to have oral sex with her. “The woman pushed his bald head away, but this failed to make him stop and he then got on top of her and raped her.
“She tried to push him away by putting her hands on her chest and saying no to him. “The woman said that after she had protested for a while, he stopped and left. The situation left her feeling emotionally drained and didn’t know what to do.
“She phoned a friend who was a serving female soldier at another base and told her what had happened. The soldier then contacted a mutual friend to go and assist. The mutual friend found the woman crying hysterically and called the Police. She also went upstairs to check on the other woman in bed who said to her, ‘who was that man?’. The jury was told that the Police went to talk to the woman in bed and she described a man coming into the bedroom and sexually touching her between the legs.
“She told the Police that it was the ‘Fijian man’.” The trial continues today.