Waisake Tulavu Further Remanded After Strong Objections From Prosecution

The senior pastor facing four counts of rape and one count of sex­ual assault has been denied bail.

Waisake Tulavu appeared before Jus­tice Daniel Goundar yesterday.

His bail was denied by the High Court in Suva on the grounds of strong objec­tion submitted by the prosecution.

In his bail judgment, Justice Goundar said: “The charges against the accused are serious and he is alleged to have sexually abused the three complain­ants with the same modus operandi.

“The three different female complain­ants were the members of the congre­gation at the time of the alleged of­fence.

“The accused has no history of breaching bail conditions nor has com­mitted any offence in the past.

“The accused has been in the remand centre for a period of three months and has indicated to surrender his passport and not to obtain any travel documents during the case, however the prosecution had told the court that they have a strong case against the ac­cused,” Justice Goundar said.

The matter was adjourned for plea for Tulavu and his co-accused Sakiusa Na­kutoro on March 26.

Tulavu has been remanded in cus­tody pending trial while Nakutoro is on bail.

The charges: For the first count, on May 11 in Nasinu, Tulavu allegedly performed a sexual act on a 22-year-old woman without her consent.

On the second count of rape, it is al­leged that on the same day, Tulavu again performed a sexual act on the 22-year-old complainant without her consent.

On the third count, on the same day, Tulavu allegedly performed a sexual act on the 22-year-old complainant without her consent – for the third time.

In another alleged incident on June 16, Tulavu and Nakutoro allegedly raped a 29-year-old woman in Nasinu.

It is also alleged that Tulavu unlaw­fully and indecently performed a sexual act on a 32-year-old woman.

Edited by Percy Kean