I am the boss of your body, father tells daughter during rape

Iam the boss of your body, a 62-year-old father told his 15-year-old daughter while raping her twice at his house, in his own bedroom in 2018. Judge Justice Salesi Temo said the man’s crime against the victim showed his utter disrespect to her right as a child, her right as a human being and her right to a happy and peaceful life.

Justice Temo made these remarks while sentencing the man to 15 years in jail for raping his biological daughter twice between October 1 and November 4, 2018, at their home in Suva.

The man forced himself on the victim and raped her. At the time of the offences, the man knew the victim was not consenting to sex with him because she told him to stop. Yet the man ignored her protest, continued and told her “I am the boss of your body”.

Justice Temo told the man that as a father, he was supposed to look after her, care for her and guide her to become a confident and useful citizen of Fiji in the future.

“This is the least expected of you as a father of the victim. Yet you abused the trust she had in you, by doing the unthinkable, that is, raping her on two separate occasions. “You had let her down, and must pay the price for offending your daughter by serving a long prison sentence.

“You had wrecked the life of this young girl, and it will take her a long time to recover.

“You will have to be punished for your crimes,” Justice Temo said.

The man was ordered to serve 12 years imprisonment before he would be eligible for parole.

A permanent domestic violence order with standard non-molestation conditions is issued for the safety of the victim. This order will remain subject to the orders of the court.