Jail term for rapist aunt
A woman convicted of digitally raping and threatening her 12-year-old niece has been handed a concurrent sentence of 11 years and six months in jail. At the High Court in Suva on Monday, Justice Waleen George also imposed a non-parole period of six years with a Permanent Domestic Violence Restraining Order. On March 4 this year, the woman, 27, was found guilty of two representative counts of rape. Court records show the incident occurred between January 1 and December 31, 2021, when the woman slept over at the victim’s home. On that night, the victim heard her grandmother tell her aunt to sleep in the victim’s room. The duo conversed for some time before the girl fell asleep. While sleeping she felt the accused touching her body before raping her. The accused threatened her not to reveal the act to anyone. A close male friend questioned her after witnessing the aunt forcibly trying to kiss her. She then confided in him and the matter was subsequently reported to the police. The woman, however, claimed to be in a relationship with the girl who denied it. In her ruling, Justice George said sexual exploitation and abuse of children — where the perpetrators were in positions of power or well known to the victims — were prevalent in our community. “The court has a duty to punish those perpetrators to send a message to others that such crimes will not be tolerated,” the judge said.
Witness uncooperative in murder trial
The de facto partner of former lawyer Shazran Lateef allegedly witnessed Shabreen Shain Ali being murdered at their house in Raiwaqa, Suva last year. Prosecutor Zenith Zunaid told the High Court in Suva police were trying to get hold of the witness, Luse Mara, for minor clarifications but she was not cooperating because of fear. According to Ms Mara’s statement, Mr Zunaid said, she had met the accused, Anare Vuli Cilicewa, in June last year when he resided at Mr Lateef’s property as a security guard. The prosecution is alleging that on September 8 last year, Mr Cilicewa, 31, had a heated argument with Ali during which he used a broken bottle to stab her. He is then alleged to have stuffed a condom filled with pieces of cloth in her mouth before strangling, choking and gagging her, which caused her death. Both the prosecution and defence are not objecting to how Ali died. The only issue is the identity of the alleged murderer. The court was informed the police forensic team would act on a court order issued recently for a buccal swab to be performed on Mr Cilicewa for cross-referencing purposes. His lawyer, Manisha Singh from Legal Aid will be filing a notice of alibi. Until then, Mr Cilicewa is remanded in custody and the case adjourned to June 12.
