Cop gets 8 years for raping fellow officer

A Lautoka Police officer is slapped with eight years’ imprisonment after he was convicted for raping a female Police officer following a drinking party at the Police barrack in 2023.

Samuela Sema,28, was sentenced by Judge Justice Aruna Aluthge at the High Court in Lautoka last week for his three counts of rape and a count each of sexual and indecent assault.

On September 3, 2023, after a drinking party at a police officer’s home at the Police barracks in Lautoka, the victim (a female officer) had gone to his room after being told that another female officer they were drinking with wanted to see her.

They left the friend’s home and Sema lured her into his room, where he shut the door and raped her.

The maximum sentence for rape was life imprisonment with a tariff of seven to 15 years’ imprisonment for adult rape.

The court considered that the offense was committed when both the accused and the victim were drunk, however the victim was his friend since high school and his partner.

“Sexual offenses are on the rise and most prevalent in Fiji calling for deterrence sentences,” Justice Aluthge said

“You breached that trust as the evidence revealed; the victim was traumatised and stayed away from work for three weeks.

“You lied to the victim, and you lured her into your room to commit the offense; it was not an opportunistic rape as your counsel suggested but you planned it to satisfy your lustful demands.”

The court heard that he was married with two children and a first offender.

The court considered his one-month stay at the Lautoka Remand Centre and his cooperation with a Police investigation.

Sema was given a starting sentence of seven years, adding another two years for aggravating factors and subtracting one year for the mitigating factor.

The court believed he could be rehabilitated and for this purpose, Sema was given as non-parole period of six years.

Feedback: Beranadeta@fijisun.com.fj