A father-of-two convicted of raping a girl with disability will serve eight of his nine-year prison term before he can be considered for parole.

Justice Sunil Sharma stated this in his ruling made earlier this month at the High Court in Lautoka.

Court records show the 47-year-old taxi proprietor had offered a lift to the victim in his car on the pretext of dropping her home, but instead of dropping her off at her requested location, he threatened her and drove her to a hotel in Votualevu.

After committing the offence, he dropped the victim off at Namaka and left.

According to the victim’s impact statement, she was ashamed, humiliated and stressed by what the accused had done to her.

“Rape not only affects the integrity of a victim, but violates the human dignity, leaving lifelong scars of psychological devastation bringing about a sense of self blame and hopelessness which does not heal easily even long after physical injuries have healed,” stated Justice Sharma.

“It is only appropriate that you be put away from society for a long time.”