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10-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl are Fiji’s youngest offenders and could serve life imprisonment
Inspector Mateiwai reveals youngest mother is 9 while youngest father is 13

10-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl are Fiji’s youngest offenders and could serve life imprisonment

Inspector Mateiwai reveals youngest mother is 9 while youngest father is 13

By Navitalai Naivalurua
08/07/2024
Fiji Police Force Sexual Offence and Child Abuse and Scholastic Crime Stoppers Programme, Inspector Unaisi Mateiwai

Concerning statistics have been revealed by Police regarding children committing serious sexual crimes with the youngest male offender being a 10-year-old boy and the youngest female offender being a 13-year-old girl.

This was revealed by Fiji Police Force Sexual Offence and Child Abuse and Scholastic Crime Stoppers Programme, Inspector Unaisi Mateiwai while speaking at an evangelism programme conducted by the Masu Ga Ministry at Drekena Village in Rewa.

Speaking in the i-Taukei language, Inspector Mateiwai says according to the Crimes Act, both children broke the law which has a life imprisonment sentence.

She says this would not have happened if there had been love and support in the family.

She adds that the youngest mother in the country is a 9-year-old girl while the youngest father is 13 years old.

Inspector Mateiwai says the other concern is that the four different ages that she had highlighted are all i-Taukei and from Christian families.

She challenged the people of Drekena in Rewa to wake up and make a move now before it gets out of hand.

She says if we call ourselves Christians, then the figures highlighted above show that the unfailing love we Christians are known for is starting to dwindle.

She urges the community and faith-based leaders to step up in their roles in safeguarding our children, who will be the future of Fiji.

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