A 56-YEAR-OLD married man was sentenced to 11 years and nine months in prison for raping his 11-year-old daughter.
Justice Siainiu Fa’alogo-Bull sentenced the father-of-two on July 17 after he pleaded guilty to a count of rape committed on April 7 this year.
The court heard that on the day in question, the victim had returned from a shower and was getting dressed when her father approached her, grabbed her hand, and forced her onto the mattress, where he sexually violated her.
He was caught in the act by his wife, who returned home unexpectedly and immediately reported the matter to the police.
Justice Bull condemned the man’s actions, stating that he robbed her of her innocence by exposing her to sexual acts at such a young age.
“By sexually violating her, you abused your authority as a father and breached the sacred trust reposed in you,” the judge ruled.
The man will be eligible for parole after serving 10 years of his head sentence.
In a separate case, a 63-year-old man has been sentenced to five years, five months, and 20 days’ in jail for sexually assaulting his 13-year-old granddaughter in 2019.
Magistrate Timoci Qalinauci imposed a non-parole period of four years when sentencing the man at the Rakiraki Magistrate’s on Friday last week.
During trial, the court was told the victim went to her grandfather’s home to ask for broomsticks, where the man committed the act despite her repeated requests for him to stop.
The victim escaped and reported the incident to a relative. Her mother confronted the accused the following day and lodged a report with the police.
Magistrate Qalinauci said the man’s action would traumatise the victim for the rest of her life.
“Children need to feel safe when they are at home with family members or relatives, and they should know that a home is their sanctuary and it is a space that they must feel safe and protected from any form of harm,” he said.
