Farmer pleads guilty to raping relative

A 24-year-old Cakaudrove farmer who raped his 11-year-old cousin has been convicted by High Court in Labasa.

Charges

He is charged with one count of indecent assault and two counts of rape when he appeared before Judge Justice Lee James Burney. The court heard he committed the offences between January 1 to December 31, 2021 when the victim was 11 years old. On December 7, 2023, upon his plea of guilty to count one, he was convicted and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment suspended for three years. The victim and her mother were part of witnesses called in by the prosecution.

Trial

At trial in August, the complainant was 15 years of age. In re-examination, the victim’s mother explained that she did not initially believe that the accused had abused the complainant because they were cousins. At the close of the prosecution case, Judge Justice Burney allowed an application to amend the information.

Complainant testifies

The complainant testified that she was scared to tell the accused’s mother immediately after the rapes because the accused had threatened to slap her. She was afraid to tell her own parents and did not tell anyone at school because she was afraid that word would get back to her parents. Judge Justice Burney said he found these explanations to be entirely reasonable in all the circumstances of this case. Thus, he found the accused guilty as charged and convicted him accordingly. He has been given 30 days to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

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