A 44-year-old subsistence farmer has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for sexually assaulting and raping his teenage daughter.
During the hearings at the High Court in Suva, it was revealed that the victim, the accused’s eldest daughter, lived with him, her mother, and five siblings. The abuse began in December 2017 when the victim was approximately 15 years old and left home alone with her father.
In early 2018, when she was around 16, she was awakened to her father’s inappropriate touching, to which she reacted by kicking him away. After a morning of assault, the victim’s mother inquired if the father had harmed her. Upon hearing the truth, the mother was devastated and confronted the accused. This led to discussions between the accused’s mother and the victim’s mother, where he apologized and promised to stop the abuse.
Although the incidents ceased temporarily, they resumed in 2020, and the victim experienced multiple assaults, including instances of digital rape. On February 13, 2021, a medical examination revealed that the victim’s hymen was no longer intact and suggested that the injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma, such as a finger.
Justice Pita Bulamainaivalu condemned the accused’s actions as “an incestuous and heinous rape and blatant betrayal of trust.” He emphasized that the victim was assaulted in what should have been a safe home environment, where children are meant to be cared for and protected from harm. The judge noted that the abuse was not an isolated incident but a continuation of a series of assaults.
Despite the accused’s apologies to his wife, daughter, and mother, his ongoing abusive behavior indicated a lack of genuine remorse.