THE High Court in Suva has acquitted a prison officer of rape and sexual assault charges after finding reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s identification evidence.
Justice Thushara Rajasinghe delivered the verdict yesterday, clearing the 25-year-old of one count each of rape and sexual assault.
The charges stemmed from alleged incidents that occurred between January 24 and January 25, 2024, involving the man’s 16-year-old cousin.
In his judgment, Justice Rajasinghe highlighted contradictions between the testimonies of the victim and her aunt regarding the man’s identification.
He noted that while the victim claimed to have recognised the man’s face when a person approached a window with a torch, her aunt testified that the person’s face was covered with a wraparound cloth and could not be identified.
Justice Rajasinghe ruled that because both witnesses were standing next to each other observing the same location, the starkly different accounts significantly diminished the reliability of the recognition evidence.
“Accordingly, I find that there is reasonable doubt about the accuracy of the recognition of the accused as the person who sexually assaulted the complainant,” Justice Rajasinghe ruled.
