The High Court in Labasa has convicted a 24-year-old man for raping his then 11-year-old cousin in 2021.
According to the evidence, the victim’s parents left her and her siblings in the care of the man’s mother when they went to harvest yaqona.
According to the proceedings, the bell rang for devotion at about 6pm, after which they had dinner together with the man and his family. After dinner, the man’s mother told the victim to go and fetch a pot for her father’s food.
She took a torch because it was dark. As she placed the torch on the kitchen sink, she felt someone grab her shoulders from behind. She turned and saw the accused.
He told her that if she told anyone about what he was about to do, he would slap her.
The victim was frightened and told him to stop, but he did not listen. After committing the offence, he told her to take the pot to his mother.
The victim did not tell the man’s mother because he had threatened to slap her if she did.
The man denied the allegations, saying the victim was a bit slow.
“It is not my impression that the complainant has any sort of mental impairment or learning difficulty capable of undermining the reliability of her testimony,” ruled Justice Lee James Burney on November 11.
“On the contrary, I found her testimony to be clear and coherent. I find the accused’s testimony about having hugged her from behind on the occasion he is alleged to have raped her to be nothing more than an ill-conceived and contrived attempt to minimise his reprehensible behaviour.
“I reject his denials of raping the complainant.”
The convicted rapist has 30 days to appeal.
