Updated: 6:07am – Sexual violence continues to be a major concern as 27 people were charged with a total of 49 separate incidents in October.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions says there were 13 incidents where the accused and the victims were related to each other.
In one incident a 28-year-old man is alleged to have raped and sexually assaulted his 8-year-old biological daughter and in another incident a 33-year-old man is alleged to have
raped and sexually assaulted his 4-year-old stepsister.
There was one incident where a 57-year-old man is alleged to have raped his 10-year-old granddaughter.
The DPP’s Office says there were five separate incidents where the accused persons have been charged for allegedly raping their nieces.
Two 15-year-old boys were also charged with one count of rape of a 13-year-old girl, a 15-year-old boy was charged with one count of rape and one count of sexual assault of his 10-year-old cousin
while another accused aged 14 years was charged with one count of rape of a 9-year-old boy.
There were 23 victims of the 49 separate incidents of whom 19 victims were under the age of 18 years.
The DPP’s Office says there was one incident where an 11-year-old girl fell pregnant after she was allegedly raped by three men in the Northern division.
In another separate incident, a 28-year-old man was charged with the sexual assault of a 12-year-old boy.
There was one incident where a 22-year-old man was charged with one count of rape of a 68-year-old woman.
There were 33 cases of rape and 16 cases of sexual assault.
Five cases were withdrawn in October. Of these five, three were withdrawn due to the inability to locate the accused persons; one was withdrawn after the death of the accused person while another case was withdrawn due to significant inconsistencies in the complainant’s statements.
-Fiji Village
