A Tailevu villager who is convicted of one count of rape and one count of attempted rape involving a 10 year old girl has been sentenced to 9 years, eight months and three weeks in prison.
The first incident happened on the 4th of May 2012 when the victim was on her way to a Sunday School choir practice.
The accused attempted to rape her inside the village hall.
However he ran away after he overheard some people talking.
In the second incident, the victim went to his home to ask for a box of matches. He then raped the 10 year old girl.
Suva High Court Judge, Justice Janaka Bandara said the maximum sentence for rape under the Crimes Decree is life imprisonment.
He said for the rape of a child, the tariff ranges from 10 to 15 years imprisonment.
The judge said the victim is said to be afraid, having sleeping disorder and finds it difficult to follow her school work.
Justice Bandara said the alarming factor is that according to a report, the 10 year old girl is being teased by other children in the village by calling the accused person’s name.
In mitigation, the accused said he was 18 years at the time of the offence and a first offender.
Justice Bandara started the sentence at 15 years however he reduced it by a third as the accused pleaded guilty.
He was sentenced to 9 years, eight months and three weeks in prison as he has been in remand since 19th February this year.
However the judge decided not to set a non-parole period as the accused is still 20 years old.
Story by: Vijay Narayan
