A Vatuwaqa resident convicted of raping his then Class 5 sister-in-law has been sentenced to 15 years and two weeks in jail with a non-parole period of 12 years.
The 38-year-old was found guilty of four counts of rape committed between 2018 and 2023, although he was acquitted of a count of sexual assault by Justice Siainiu Fa’alogo Bull at the High Court in Suva on July 30.
Court records show the father-of-five had forceful unconsented sexual intercourse with the victim.
The victim said the accused was a “physical” and “scary” person, and everyone in the family would listen to him. He had also spent time in prison for assaulting the victim’s eldest sister.
She did not tell anyone about what the accused had done because he had threatened to kill her and the person she informed.
The incident only came to light when she visited the village and informed her mother of the incidents.
The accused denied the incidents on the basis that he was out diving at the time.
He claimed the only time he had consensual sexual intercourse with the victim was back in 2020 as a form of repayment for money she had taken from him.