Justice Salesi Temo tells prosecutor not to be shy

Justice Salesi Temo tells prosecutor not to be shy

By Vijay Narayan and Jessica Savike
Wednesday 01/11/2017

High Court Judge Justice Salesi Temo told the state lawyer Taitusi Tuenuku in the trial of the four men who are charged with raping their nephew in Tailevu, that he should not be shy as a prosecutor when it comes to rape cases.

Justice Temo made the comment in court when the prosecutor could not ask specific questions about the alleged incidents.

Justice Temo told the prosecutor that he should take his coat off and give it to another prosecutor if he is shy.

He said that he is sick and tired of prosecutors being too shy in spelling out rape cases.

Meanwhile, the boy’s mother also took the witness stand late yesterday.

The mother said that she noticed her son was walking differently on three separate occasions.

She said that she had heard from a person that her son was raped by her husband’s relatives.

Tuenuku asked the mother of the victim what she had done after she knew that her son was allegedly raped.

She said that she had reported it to the Nausori Police Station.

During cross-examination, defense lawyer Nemani Tuifagalele asked the mother if her son acted like a girl to which Justice Temo highlighted the issue of relevance.

Justice Temo says that this court is not a place where you defame people.

He further adds that he did not see the relevance of the question in relation to the rape case.

Justice Temo told Tuifagalele to fight with honour and not dishonour.

The sixth prosecution witness in the trial also said that the 14-year-old boy had an injury when he was examined on March 9th, 2016.

Doctor Rayneel Singh said that he had examined the boy who had alleged that he was molested by three men.

When asked by the state counsel Taitusi Tuenuku, Doctor Singh said that the victim did not talk much and when he tried to share the details of what happened to him he was uncomfortable.

Dr. Singh said that the injury could have been caused by penetration or an internal force trauma.The doctor also said that the boy had sustained emotional scars which were much deeper than the physical injury hence he needs a further psychiatric evaluation.

During cross-examination, defense counsel Nemani Tuifagalele was reminded by Justice Salesi Temo to stick to the charge and not question the doctor about the alleged oral sex.

Justice Temo said to Tufagalele that as far as the oral sex is concerned, the prosecution chose not to charge his clients and they are only interested in evidence relating to the charge.

The alleged incidents occurred in Tailevu between November 2015 to March last year.

The four uncles have been charged with one count each of rape and all of them have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The first accused is 40 years old, the second accused is 32, the third accused is 45 while the fourth accused is 42.

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