Crimes such as murder, manslaughter and infanticide in the West increased by 61 per cent in 2022.
Fiji Police Force crime prevention officer West Inspector Bulou Melania Vaisewa said this at the Vodafone ATH Fiji Foundation organised 4th Multidisciplinary Conference and 14th Corporate Philanthropy Seminar in Lautoka recently.
However, she said crimes against women in the Western Division decreased by two per cent in 2022 compared with the previous year.
“The year 2022 recorded a total of 934 cases, while a total of 936 cases were recorded for the same period in 2021,” she said. This shows a decrease in crime against women by 0.2 per cent.
“This is probably because of the awareness and how we had been working together with community leaders and groups alongside the Fiji Police Force.
Insp Vaisewa said of the 934 cases in 2022, 86 per cent were assault related crimes.
“That is a total of 799 assault related cases.
“Out of the 934, 14 per cent or 135 cases were sexual offenses.”
She said while the total number of crimes had decreased last year, for serious crimes such as murder, the figures had increased.
“Offences such as murder, manslaughter, infanticide or other crimes against person offenses increased in 2022. These increased by 61 per cent.”
