Man with intellectual disability gets jailed for 6yrs 6 months for raping 3yr old girl

A man who suffers from intellectual disability  has been sentenced to 6 years and 6 months imprisonment for a count of rape by the Suva High Court.

He raped a 3-year-old girl in Vanuabalavu on 22nd June 2015.

Judge, Justice Riyaz Hamza has set a non‑parole period of 4 years and 6 months.

While sentencing the man, Justice Hamza says that the man took advantage of the girls vulnerability, helplessness and naivety.

Justice Hamza told the man that like any other person with a disability, his rights are protected under the Constitution and the International Conventions on the Rights of Persons with disabilities.

He says Rule 5 of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) creates an obligation on the prison administrations to make all reasonable accommodation and adjustments to ensure that prisoners with disabilities have full and effective access to prison life on an equitable basis.

Justice Hamza adds The Fiji Corrections Service is obliged by law to provide him with full and effective access to prison life on an equitable basis and  he will have other recourse if there is a failure to comply with this obligation.