3 found not guilty for raping inmate

The three men who were facing charges for raping a 28-year-old inmate at the Suva Corrections Centre in November 2012, have been found not guilty and acquitted by Justice Achala Wengappuli.

The three assessors had earlier found Jonacani Ciritabua, Tevita Qaqanivalu and Sefton Tupou guilty however this was overturned by the judge this afternoon.

The judge said that this is due to the inconsistency of the complainant to identify the three accused and his evidence could not be accepted as reliable.

Justice Wengappuli said that the claim of mistaken identity could not be ruled out.

The presiding judge said the prosecution has also failed to establish that it was these three accused persons that were involved in the incident.

Justice Wengappuli said while giving his evidence in the trial, the complainant said that he was dragged into Yasi Dorm 2 from the bathroom while in the statement made on the 7th of November, 2012, he said that the accused of Yasi Dorm came and pulled him from Dorm 1.

It was also highlighted that the medical report did not show that the complainant was punched although this was claimed by the complainant.

While delivering his verdict, Justice Wengappuli highlighted that the complainant had said that he was only penetrated once and in cross examination by the first accused, the complainant said that he was penetrated repeatedly.

In his evidence, the complainant had also said that his hands were held by two people and his legs were held by another two while another person raped him.

But when he was questioned about the number of persons, the complainant said that only three people were there, not 5.

Qaqanivalu is currently serving time in prison for another case while Ciritabua and Tupou are now free men after their acquittal.