Leave to appeal for Ba man who raped his daughter-in-law dismissed

The Fiji Court of Appeal has dismissed the application of leave to appeal against conviction of a Ba man who was sentenced for raping his daughter-in-law.

The man was convicted of four counts of rape and was given a 9 years and 11 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 8 years in 2017.

The man had appealed that the trial judge erred in law when he failed to give clear reasons for overturning the assessors’ majority opinion of not guilty.

While delivering the ruling, Justice Chandana Prematilaka says the trial judge had given cogent reasons why he disagreed with the majority of the assessors and agreed with the minority view that the man was guilty.

Justice Prematilaka says the trial judge had finally held that the prosecution had proved its case against the man beyond reasonable doubt.

He adds having examined the summing-up and the judgment, he has no doubt that the trial judge’s finding of guilty against the appellant is supported by the weight of evidence and there is little doubt of the credibility of the complainant.