Duo Found Guilty Of Rape
Two men each charged with one count of rape were found guilty and convicted by the High Court of Lautoka on Monday.
The two men appeared before Justice Sunil Sharma after a week-long trial. On April 3, 2015, in the Western Division, the duo had carnal knowledge with the complainant without her consent.
The complainant had told the court that on the day of the incident, she was drinking alcohol with the two men and another man in the early hours of the morning at the back of a dairy shop in a village.
The complainant knew both the accused men and after their drinking ended at around 9am, the complainant had went to the nearby sugarcane field and blacked out.
When she regained consciousness, both the men were into the process of raping her.
Justice Sharma rejected the defence of both the accused persons as unbelievable and unreliable.
“The defence put forward by both the accused persons has not been able to create a reasonable doubt in the prosecution case.
“I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that both the accused persons on April 3, 2015, had raped the victim without her consent. I also accept that both the accused persons knew or believed that the victim was not consenting or did not care if she was not consenting at the time.”
He overturned the unanimous opinion of the three assessors of a not guilty opinion and convicted the two accused men accordingly.
Edited by Jonathan Bryce
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