There is no normal reaction to rape, Judge tells accused

A 35-year-old farmer who raped his cousin’s partner has been convicted by the High Court in Labasa.

He was found guilty of one count of rape by Justice Lee James Burney. The court heard that the incident occurred on October 6, 2023, in Cakaudrove.

The complainant was 20 at the time.

The court heard that the accused went to the complainant’s house to use his phone to call for transport to Labasa because it was the only place in the village with network coverage.

The complainant was alone at home while her partner was away at the farm when the rape occurred.

She managed to free herself and ran to the nearest neighbour, her partner’s aunt, who was also the accused’s aunt.

In his judgment, Justice Burney said research and experience showed that the emotion, or absence of emotion, displayed by a complainant when making a complaint was not, by itself, a reliable measure of whether the person was telling the truth.

He said there was no normal reaction to rape.

“Some people will show emotion or distress and may cry. But other people will seem very calm or unemotional,” he said.

Justice Burney also explained that it was possible for someone to put on an act if they chose to.

Even if a complainant’s distress was not feigned, he said it was not necessarily indicative of the accused’s guilt.

Justice Burney said the complainant and the accused were well known to each other, as the accused often sat down to drink kava with his cousin at the house where the incident occurred.

He found the evidence given by the complainant and her aunt about the circumstances to be substantially consistent, supporting the complainant’s consistency and credibility.

The man will be sentenced at a later date.