Two jailed for planned burglary of elderly neighbour's home

Two men who planned and carried out a burglary at their 65-year-old neighbour's home while she was away have each been sentenced to two years' imprisonment, with half their sentences suspended.

Abdul Fazil Hussein, 37, and Kishan Mani, 22, will each serve 12 months in prison, while the remaining 12 months have been suspended for three years.

The pair appeared before Justice Aruna Aluthge at the High Court in Lautoka after pleading guilty to aggravated burglary and theft.

The court heard that Hussein and Mani lived in the same neighbourhood as their victim, Anita Devi, and planned to break into her home on June 20, 2026.

Ms Devi had locked her house and left for her sister's home at about 6.45pm.

While she was away, the two men broke open the doors and entered her home.

They stole gold chains, mangalsutras, diamond and gold rings, silver rings, gold bangles and $1800 in cash.

The stolen items also included two television sets, mobile phones, watches, a Samsung tablet, power tools, a bottle of vodka and other electronic equipment.

Home found ransacked

Ms Devi returned home at about 2.30pm the following day and discovered that her front grill door and main door had been forced open.

Inside, she found her house ransacked and drawers containing valuables broken.

She reported the burglary to Police.

During investigations, Hussein and Mani were arrested and admitted breaking into the house.

The court heard that both men cooperated with Police and showed investigators where the stolen items could be recovered.

Most of the stolen property was recovered, except the cash.

Judge considers planning

In sentencing, Justice Aluthge noted that the value of the stolen property was high.

The judge classified the offence as low harm because no serious physical harm had been caused to the victim.

However, Justice Aluthge found that the offenders' culpability was not low because the burglary had been planned.

The court considered their guilty pleas, remorse, cooperation with Police, lack of previous convictions and time spent in remand.

Hussein, a barber earning between $300 and $400 a week, was the sole breadwinner for his family and also supported his parents and grandparents.

Mani worked as a carpenter, earning about $180 a week.

Both had spent approximately two months in remand before sentencing.

Half of sentence suspended

Justice Aluthge adopted a starting point of three years' imprisonment for each offender before reducing the sentence to two years after considering their mitigating circumstances and time spent in remand.

Each was sentenced to 24 months' imprisonment, with 12 months to be served immediately and the remaining 12 months suspended for three years.

The judge warned that if either man was convicted of another offence during the suspension period, the suspended portion of the sentence could be activated.

Both were informed of their right to appeal within 30 days.