JUVENILE ON SUSPENDED

Sentence for raping seven-year-old niece

A17-year-old juvenile, who raped his seven-year-old niece, was given a suspended sentence by the High Court in Lautoka yesterday. In addition, his parents were ordered to sign a good behaviour bond of $500 each, and to pay a fine of $120 within 14 days.

The orders were made by Justice Sunil Sharma while sentencing the juvenile to one year, four months and 11 days imprisonment, suspended for three years. On July 28, 2019, the victim who was a Year Two student then, was helping her aunt clean the house.

After lunch the juvenile came to massage the victim’s uncle and after a while, the juvenile joined the victim and other children playing outside the house. While playing, the juvenile asked the victim to accompany him to a village and on the way the juvenile took the victim to a vacant house.

Inside the vacant house, he locked the doors, took off his pants, and forced her to perform a sexual act.

After this, the juvenile took the victim to the nearby river, removed her pants and raped her. The juvenile warned the victim not to tell anyone about what he had done to her.

He was 16 at the time of the offence, and assisted his parents by working in the farm.

The court heard that the juvenile had sought forgiveness and mercy of the court and promised not to reoffend.

According to the juvenile’s lawyer, he was influenced by his peers in the village which resulted in his wrong judgment.

Sentencing

Justice Sharma said as per the order of the court, the Social Welfare Department conducted a house assessment and interviews before compiling a prepunishment report for the juvenile.

He said the Social Welfare Department recommended that probation orders should be made since the Social Welfare Department had qualified probation officers to supervise the juvenile. Justice Sharma said the officer did not recommend detention at the Fiji Juvenile Rehabilitation and Development Centre due to incidents of bullying which would not be in favour of the juvenile.

Parents assurance to the court

Justice Sharma also noted that the parents of the juvenile had pledged their full support for their son.

Both admitted it was due to their fault the juvenile went into wrong peer group influence.

The parents have seen a positive change in their son after they started to counsel him and pay more attention to him.

They assured the court that they would continue with their supervision, guidance and support for their son.

Justice Sharma said the changes they had seen were good, and the parents were confident their son would be able to make a better citizen.

He also noted that the juvenile was in remand for seven months and 19 days.

Justice Sharma said in his view, the remand period spent at the Fiji Juvenile Rehabilitation and Development Centre was enough punishment.

Justice Sharma ordered that the juvenile be placed under probation order with the Social Welfare Department for the next two years.

The court also ordered that the terms of the probation was to be worked out by the Social Welfare Department in consultation with the Probation Officers and the parents.