A 16-year-old boy who raped his 6-year-old niece in Sigatoka last year has been sentenced to 1 year 4 months and 11 days imprisonment which has been suspended for three years by Lautoka High Court Judge, Justice Sunil Sharma.
The boy who pleaded guilty to two counts of rape was in remand for 7 months and 19 days.
The two incidents happened on the 28th of July last year.
The juvenile took the girl to a vacant house where he raped her. He then took her to a river when he again raped her.
The girl told her aunt about what the boy had done to her when she got home where the matter was then reported to the police.
According to the boy’s lawyer, he was influenced by his peers in the village which resulted in his wrong judgment.
While sentencing the boy, Justice Sharma said the boy pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, is genuinely remorseful, cooperated with police and took full responsibility for his actions and because of these special reasons, immediate imprisonment inappropriate.
Justice Sharma has also ordered the boy is to be placed under probation order with the Social Welfare Department for the next two years.
He has also ordered a permanent non-molestation and non-contact orders between the boy and the 6-year-old girl because of the closeness of the relationship between the two.
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