A 39-year-old man has been sentenced to 9 years and 11 months imprisonment for raping his cousin in Nadi in 2014 by the Lautoka High Court.
In his sentence, High Court Judge Justice Aruna Aluthge said the complainant agreed to accompany the man to the Bula Festival without a shadow of doubt about his sincerity because she was his cousin.
Justice Aluthge said the man breached that trust when he committed this offence.
The man was 36 years old while the complainant was only 19 years old at the time of the offence.
Justice Aluthge said she was quite vulnerable when she was alone with the man in a beach, close to midnight.
The Judge said the 36-year-old man was drunk and imposed alcohol on the victim.
He considered the man’s insistence on the complainant to drink alcohol before committing the offence as an aggravating factor.
In mitigation, Justice Aluthge considered that the man was a 39 year old father of a son who is four years old and was the sole breadwinner of the family.
The assessors unanimously found the man guilty of Rape as charged.
He is eligible for parole after serving 8 years in prison.
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