Accused pleaded  not guilty

A 16-year-old girl yesterday described at the High Court in Lautoka how her father threatened and raped her.

Her father is charged with two counts of rape and one count of indecent assault and appeared before Justice Thushara Ranasinghe.

The accused is alleged to have indecently assaulted and raped his daughter on separate occasions between January to May in 2013 when she was 13-years-old.

The accused pleaded not guilty.

The girl told the court that she was sent to Nadi for a better education opportunity. But she said a week later after her arrival her father started threatening and abusing her.

In her statement, she revealed how she was allegedly abused. One incident occurred in the absence of her mother who had already separated from her father.

She told the court that her father used to come into her room, remove her clothes and abuse her.

It was also revealed that during that time of the incident, the victim’s elder sister was also in the same room, however, she was asleep.

She said that other alleged incidents occurred when her cousins arrived to stay with her.

She said she was moved to sleep in the other room.

She said she also warned the accused that she would report the matter to the Police.

But she said the accused threatened to kill her and bury her if she went to the Police.

She later reported the matter to her teacher who was in charge of the girls in her school.

The teacher took her to report the matter at the Police Station.

In cross examination, defence counsel, Jasveel Singh, questioned why the girl did not raise any alarm despite having her sister in her room and nearby when she was able to warn the accused.

But the girl said the accused threatened her time and again.

Mr Singh put it to the girl that she was making up the whole incident.

Mr Singh, further in the cross examination told the girl that what was recorded in her Police statement was different from what she was revealing to the court.

However, the girl said she only told the Police what she could recall at the time.

The trial continues today and the state lawyer is expected to present four prosecution witnesses which include the teacher, whom the girl reported the incident to, a doctor and girl’s elder sister.

Edited by Nemani Delaibatiki

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