Holland Street is not a safe street, whether at night or during the day, says taxi driver Sikandar Khan.

He made the comment following an incident on Friday where a 23-year-old woman was allegedly raped in broad daylight at Holland Street, Toorak, Suva.

Mr Khan, 49, who has been living in Toorak, for 20 years, said he would never stop for a second along the street.

“The street is too dark and quiet, and those big bushes where the youths hide themselves in are too scary. Girls are not safe on that street even during the day,” he said.

The taxi driver said every time he drove at night along that street, he never stopped for a second fearing that some one could just come out of nowhere.

“The main problem is that there are too many shortcuts and it is really hard to catch suspects because they know all those shortcuts, which links to other streets,” he said.

“The youths always come out during odd hours and that’s when they cause problems around the area.

“What we need more is Police on foot patrols and I think the only solution is to seal off all the shortcuts, which is the cause of all the problems in the area.”

Pundit Jayendra Shastri of the Laxmi Narayan Mandir at Holland St said he would see youths drinking and shouting every night in the area.

Pundit Shastri has been living in the Temple for more than 10 years.

Edited by Naisa Koroi

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