There were four alleged incidents where the victim and the accused are related.

One alleged incident of marital rape was recorded in the December, 2017 rape and sexual offence statistics released by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The statement said a 29-year-old man allegedly raped his 26-year-old-wife. This case (where the victim and the accused are related) and others relates to the number of formal indictments (Information) filed in the High Courts of Fiji by the ODPP throughout the month. The data is confined to alleged incidents of serious sexual offences only.

There were six people charged with a total of 11 separate incidents in December. The alleged offences were rape (7), indecent assault (3) and sexual assault (1).

There were five victims of the 11 separate incidents of whom four victims were under the age of 18 years.

There were four alleged incidents where the victims and the accused were related. In one alleged incident a 37-year-old uncle and a 48-year-old grandfather were charged with two counts each of rape and indecent assault of their 16-year-old niece and granddaughter.

There was another alleged incident where a 35-year old brother-in-law was charged with rape and indecent assault of his 16-year-old sister-in-law.

In another alleged incident a 40-year-old uncle was charged with raping his 14-year-old niece.

There was one alleged incident where a 19-year-old student was charged with raping a 15-year-old female student. Both the accused and the victim were students from the same school.

Two cases were withdrawn after discontinuances (Nolle Prosequi) were filed. These matters were withdrawn due to insufficient evidence and the victim’s failure to appear in court.

Refer to the table entitled ODPP Rape and Sexual Offences December 2017 for a break-down of these statistics.

Source: ODPP

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