Ratoto bailed by Suva High Court
Aman charged with manslaughter was granted bail on Tuesday by the High Court in Suva.
Viliame Ratoto, 30, who is charged with two counts of manslaughter and one count of breach of zero alcohol limit and two counts of dangerous driving occasioning grievous harm, appeared before Justice Daniel Goundar.
On the first count of manslaughter, it is alleged that on September 16, Ratoto engaged in a conduct by driving a motor vehicle in a manner which was reckless and caused serious harm to Archana Amrita Chand, which resulted in her death.
For the second count of manslaughter, on the same day Ratoto allegedly drove the vehicle along Kanace Road in Valelevu in a manner which was dangerous to the public having regards to all the circumstances of the case, as a result caused bodily injuries to 35-yearold Anjula Chand, resulting in her death as well.
He is also alleged to have caused bodily injuries to Privasinal Chand and allegedly had a concentration of 156.2 milligrams of alcohol in his blood, which was in excess of the prescribed limit.
State lawyer Momita Chowdhury informed the court that she did not object to the bail, but requested for strict bail conditions to be imposed, reporting time and a stop departure on Ratoto along with the suspension of his driver’s licence. Bail was then granted to Ratoto on one surety bond of $500. He was told not to change his residential address or interfere with any of the prosecution witnesses. Justice Goundar also suspended Ratoto’s driver’s licence and issued him a stop departure order. Ratoto was ordered to report to the Valelevu Police Station every Saturday between 6am and 6pm. The matter was adjourned for pretrial conference to March 7, 2019.