UPDATED: 5:44am – A 35-year-old man has been sentenced to four months imprisonment after stepping on the head of his wife three times while their 3-month-old baby was next to her.
He was sentenced in the Levuka Magistrates Court by Resident Magistrate Shageeth Somaratne. Lenati Vatuwaliwali was charged with one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
According to the summary of facts, the wife was inside the bedroom with her 3-month-old when she heard Vatuwaliwali shouting in the sitting room because his wife had not cooked anything. The wife got afraid and lay with her face downward.
The man then went to the room and stepped three times on her head whereby blood came out from her nose. Vatuwaliwali pleaded guilty to the offence.
While sentencing the man, Magistrate Somaratne said the information highlighted in the summary of facts were disturbing.
He said when Vatuwaliwali found the victim had not cooked, he trampled on her head three times while the 3-month-old baby was next to her.
Magistrate Somaratne said the facts are sufficient to give a custodial sentence to denounce the behaviour and deter domestic violence from happening in Levuka.
He has also granted a permanent domestic violence restraining order for the safety of the victim.
-Fiji Village
