Man cops 14 years in jail for rape of cousin

Offences of sexual nature are one of the humiliating and distressing crimes, says High Court Judge, Justice Thushara Rajasinghe.

He made the comment yesterday while sentencing a Labasa man to 14 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 12 years for the rape of a cousin sister. The offender pleaded guilty to the rape charges of the child under the age of 13. The Court heard that the offender was in remand for the case for nearly one year, three months, and 15 days before this sentence as the Court did not grant him bail.

The remaining period left for the offender to serve is 12 years and nine months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 10 years and nine months.

Background:

On December 6, 2020, at around 4.30 pm, the offender was sleeping in the first room of the grandmother’s house when the victim came home from church to pick up her cardigan. The victim went to the room where the offender was sleeping to look for her cardigan. He grabbed and laid her on the mattress and then raped her.

Judge’s comments:

Justice Rajasinghe said the offence violated the physical self and destroyed the personal dignity and self-autonomy of a person.

“This is a case of an elderly male cousin using his young female cousin for surrogate sexual gratification,” Justice Rajasinghe said.

“The social enigma of abusing children for sexual gratification by their family members needs to address promptly and effectively, therefore, I find this is a grave crime.“In view of the severe nature of the crimes of this nature, the primary purpose of this sentence is founded on the principle of deterrence.

“It is the responsibility of the Court to deter offenders or other persons from committing offences of the same or similar nature and protect the community from offenders of this nature,” he said.

Justice Rajasinghe said a harsh and long custodial sentence was inevitable for offences of this nature to demonstrate the gravity of the offence and reflect that civilised society denounced such crimes without any reservation.

Judge to the Offender:

Justice Rajasinghe said to the offender: “You had meticulously carried out this sexual assault on the victim when she was not in a position to escape or seek assistance from others. “You found the opportunity when the complainant was alone in the room looking for her cardigan. You had subdued her resistance using your physical strength.

“You had abused the trust and relationship she had in you as her cousin. By doing this crime, you have destroyed one of the safest places she had in her young life: her grandmother’s home.”