Rape Accused Told to Behave While on Bail

A38-year-old man, who allegedly raped his stepdaughter, was ordered by the High Court in Suva to behave while on bail. The accused, who is charged with one count of attempted rape and two counts of rape, appeared before Justice Daniel Goundar yesterday. For the attempted rape charge, it is alleged that between April 1 and April 30, 2018, at Nasinu, the man attempted to rape his 13-year-old step-daughter. Then between November 1 and November 30, 2018, he allegedly raped her. The complainant is the daughter of the accused’s wife. She was 13 years old at the time of the alleged offences.

Legal Aid Commission lawyer, Anisha Singh told the court that the accused had denied all charges and wanted bail. Ms Singh also told the court that the accused’s wife was no longer residing at their residential address as they separated when the matter came to light.

State prosecutor, Shirley Tivao, told the court that prosecution did not object to bail as the complainant had moved back to her father’s residence after the alleged incidents. Justice Goundar granted bail to the accused and ordered his two sureties to sign a bail bond of $1000 each.

He also ordered the accused to reside with his surety at a fixed residential address and not to change his address without the leave of the court.

The accused was ordered to surrender his passport to the Registry within 72 hours and if he did not have one, he was ordered not to obtain a passport or travel documents.

The accused has been ordered to report to the Valelevu Police Station every Saturday between 6am and 6pm. Justice Goundar warned the accused to remain on good behaviour while on bail and to attend all his court hearings. The case was adjourned to September 4 for a pre-trial conference.