A 44-year-old father-of-six was told in the High Court in Lautoka that his actions were worse than that of an animal and a disgrace to society.

This is before he was sentenced to 13 years nine months and 15 days in jail with a non-parole period of 12 years for raping his 14-year-old biological daughter.

A permanent Domestic Violence Restraining Order was issued against him with standard non-molestation and non-contact orders.

The incidents happened between April 22, 2017, and May 20, 2017.

While sentencing the accused Justice Sunil Sharma said, “there has been an increase in sexual offences involving offenders who are known to the victim and matured adults.”

He said it was disgusting to note the matter in which the accused breached the victim’s trust.

The court was told that in the first incident on April 22, 2017, the girl pushed her father away after he made advances to her in a bedroom in the family home.

Five days later the victim was in the kitchen cooking, when her father approached her and told her that he wanted to have sex with her.

She refused, and he pulled her hand and took her to his bedroom where he raped her.

He told her that if she told anyone they would both go to prison.

The rape continued on several occasions when her mother was not at home until June 3, 2017, when the victim’s grandmother questioned her and she relayed everything to her and her mother was informed.

The matter was reported to the Police by the victim’s mother on June 4, 2018, and the victim was medically examined.

In mitigation the accused submitted that he is a first offender, was married, unemployed and suffered from asthma.

Justice Sharma highlighted that the aggravating factors include the breach of trust and the accused’s abuse of the sanctity of the relationship between a father and daughter.

The accused planned to commit the crimes when his wife was at work and he knew that the victim was innocent and vulnerable.

The age difference between them was 30 years, which was substantial.

“It is the duty of the court to protect children from sexual exploitation of any kind that is the reason the law has imposed life imprisonment as the maximum penalty,” Justice Sharma said.

“You have committed serious offences against your own daughter you were supposed to protect, care and love. The victim was unsuspecting and vulnerable and you had instilled fear in her by your conduct.”

“You cannot be forgiven for what you had done to this child.”

The accused was told that he had scarred his daughter’s life forever and brought shame to all fathers and broken the sanctity of the relationship.

Edited by Epineri Vula

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