A 23 year old man from Nadi has been sentenced to 17 years, 5 months and 16 days imprisonment after he raped a 8 year old girl in a mini bus in August 2015.
The court heard that Rohit Rikash Chand committed the offence after he asked the girl’s grandmother if the victim could sit on his lap as there was no space for her to sit in the mini bus.
The victim’s grandmother agreed that the young girl could sit on Chand’s lap.
The girl told her grandmother about what Chand had done to her after she got off the bus.
The matter was reported to Police and the victim was medically examined.
In mitigation, Chand said that he was married, he resides with his parents and they have health problems, he financially supports his family, and he is an active and helpful member of the community.
While sentencing Chand, Justice Sunil Sharma said that the rape of a child is one of the most serious forms of sexual violence and offenders should be dealt with severely.
He says a long term imprisonment becomes inevitable in such situations.
A non-parole period of 16 years has been set.
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