A FATHER-of-four convicted of raping his then 10-year-old sister-in-law has been jailed for 15 years and nine months.
High Court judge Justice Pita Bulamainaivalu, last week, also imposed a non-parole period of 14 years.
The man, who was married for 13 years, was found guilty of raping the complainant on an unknown date between April 11 and December 16 and on May 29 in 2023.
The 37-year-old, on one occasion called the victim, who just arrived from school, to the prayer room where he raped her.
The man raped her a second time in the same room while his children were watching a movie in the living room.
The victim did not inform the man’s wife of the incidents because the couple would always fight.
The matter was brought to light after she cried to her friends telling them of what the accused had done.
“This is undoubtedly an incestuous and heinous rape of a vulnerable girl/child under the age of 13 years still attending primary school,” stated Justice Bulamainaivalu.
“(The victim) being raped by her brother-in-law in the prayer room dedicated for inter alia worship of the deity and within the very home where she should be loved, cherished and protected, has undoubtedly scarred her emotionally and psychologically, and may need proper and effective counselling and care for purposes of recovery and healing.
“This situation is akin to the idioms of ‘a fox in the chicken coop’, and ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’.”
