Magistrate notes rise in aggravated robbery
Magistrate Yogesh Prasad has observed a rising rate of aggravated robbery against taxidrivers. Mr Prasad made the comment while passing sentence on Josefa Vosawale Rakai for assaulting and robbing a 54-year-old cab driver along with two others on November 23, two years ago. Court documents indicate the victim was hired by three individuals to travel from Suva to New Town in Nasinu, but he was assaulted and robbed of $120 cash, phones, and a wristwatch by those same individuals. Mr Prasad said the prosecution had established its case beyond a reasonable doubt by presenting truthful and reliable evidence. “By all means, it’s the duty of the court to pass a harsher sentence to protect the taxidrivers and send a clear message across to the community that violent robberies on taxidrivers will not be condoned by the court,” said Mr Prasad.
Landlord, 79, guilty of rape
A 79-year-old landlord who testified he was incapable of raping a 13-year-old girl as a result of erectile dysfunction for eight years has been convicted. The married man, whose wife is 73 years old, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and one of rape committed in Labasa on April 28 last year. Court records show the victim, along with an aunt and six cousins, rented a flat owned by the man who lived next door. On the afternoon of the day of the incident, the victim’s aunt left to drink yaqona, leaving the victim, her younger sister and four younger cousins alone at home. The aunt told the children not to go anywhere and to keep the door closed. That evening, the accused knocked on the door and told the children to go and sleep in his place. There, the complainant laid on the settee and the other children on a mat in the sitting room. While the victim was asleep, the elderly man indecently touched and raped her. The complainant kicked the accused. He fell, and she ran outside and subsequently informed her aunt. Records also show that before the incident, the man used to tell her to take things to the kitchen where he would inappropriately touch her. The man testified he did not know why the victim would make up allegations because he treated her and the other children as his own, and that the allegations were made at the instigation of the victim’s aunt, who was angry with the accused because he had interfered in her relationship with a man. The landlord claimed he had a medical history and had been given medication, resulting in a reduction in the size of his genitalia. In his determination, Justice Lee James Burney found the victim to be an honest and reliable witness, given that her evidence was given in a calm and measured way. “She was clear and coherent in her recollection,” stated Justice Burney on August 12. “Her descriptions of what the accused did to her were unembellished and plausible. She was not shaken in cross-examination. “I am also sure that the accused knew very well that the complainant did not consent to what he did to her. She told him not to do it, and she kicked him off her.”
Defence in full denial
Murder accused Anare Vuli Cilicewa has denied any involvement in the killing of Shabreen Shain Ali in Raiwaqa, Suva, last year. His lawyer, Monisha Singh, is currently trying to have the testimony of a Wellington doctor who conducted surgery on Mr Cilicewa’s injured wrist, which she claims minimises movements. Given that trial is fixed for April 2026, Ms Singh told Justice Pita Bulamainaivalu on August 29 the defence was running a full denial because he has another version of the events that transpired on September 8 last year. The prosecution alleges that the 31-year-old stabbed Ms Ali with a broken bottle during an argument, stuffed a condom filled with cloth in her mouth, and strangled her to death. She said her client would put his version of events to the state witnesses. Meanwhile, both parties are of the view the only issue in the trial is the identity of the killer. The prosecution will call 29 witnesses, including a pathologist. The case has been adjourned to October 17.