A unemployed man convicted of threatening to harm his then-class two-stepdaughter if she told anyone of his sexual crimes against her will be sentenced today.
The accused had his case listed for sentencing before Justice Thushara Rajasinghe in the High Court in Suva on June 17 for sentencing, but it was adjourned.
Justice Rajasinghe found the man guilty of one count of rape and a count of sexual assault which occurred in 2018 and 2022 at their home in Nakasi and Nasinu.
Records show the eight-year-old victim was asleep when she felt the accused having forceful, unconsented sexual intercourse while her younger siblings were sleeping beside her on an unknown date between January 1 and December 31, 2018.
The convicted rapist had forceful sexual intercourse with her despite her attempts to push him away for about five to six minutes. After committing the act, the stepfather moved away and went to sleep.
Besides being threatened by the rapist, she was reluctant to inform anyone fearing rumours would spread in the village.
In 2022, the accused once again approached the victim while she was asleep on the floor with her siblings, but she got up and walked out of the house as he began to inappropriately touch her.
Her employed mother was not home during the two incidents.
Justice Rajasinghe on May 19 found the evidence of the complainant to be credible and reliable and therefore, accepted it as the truth.
He has, however, found the evidence of the accused to be not true and fails to create any reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case presided over by Prosecutor Shaheen Bibi.
