A 32-year-old Lautoka farmer has been jailed for 10 years for raping a 19-year-old foreign national who was in the country as a community worker for a church.

Lautoka High Court Judge Justice Thushara Rajasinghe handed down the 10-year imprisonment term for Marika Tubeinavatu and stipulated that Tubeinavatu would only be eligible for parole after a mandatory seven years.

Justice Rajasinghe in passing the sentence pointed out that the victim had contracted a sexually transmitted disease as a result of the rape.

He said the crime was committed while the victim was sick and was sleeping.

“This is a case of an acquaintance rape,” Justice Rajasinghe said.

“It is a form of sexual coercion where a known person forcefully and manipulatively has sexual intercourse with the victim.

“This is indeed one of the worse forms of sexual offences, which infringes the victim’s life, physically and emotionally.

“The victim is a foreign national and a teenager, who came to Fiji to work as a community worker for the church.

“She was in an environment that was not familiar and away from her loved ones.

“Accordingly, it appears that she was in a vulnerable position at the time this crime was committed.

“You committed this heinous crime on the victim at the place she considered as safe and friendly for her to stay in Fiji.”

Edited by Rusiate Mataika

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