Cases dragging on in the court system for years is a real concern as just this week a case of an alleged attempted rape of a 6 year old girl by her uncle had to be withdrawn by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions as the young girl did not want to give evidence anymore.
The case was before the Nasinu Magistrates Court and it was filed in 2020.
The matter has been in court for 6 years and the girl is now 13 years old.
The reason for the withdrawal given in court by the prosecutor was that the child said in the statement she wants to forget about the case, the mother said in her statement she does not want her daughter to be reminded of the incident and the case has been going on for too long.
The prosecution has said that the accused can be charged later if the victim decides to pursue the case or if new evidence emerges.
Acting Director of Public Prosecutions, Nancy Tikoisuva says victims of sexual offences are very special as they go through traumatic events, so to relive the event can also be very traumatic.
Tikoisuva says with the court's permission, they try to deal with the sexual offence cases as early as possible in court.
She says some of these cases do not have the same attention and are delayed in the system.
Tikoisuva says for some cases, the victims have come forward and said they do not want to proceed with the case as they have moved on with life and the matter has been in court for some time.
She says they try to counsel them and if they remain adamant, then the prosecution has no option but to withdraw the case.
The Office of the DPP confirms 16 sexual offence cases were withdrawn due to various reasons in 2025, a total of 59 cases were withdrawn in 2024 and 47 cases in 2023.
We have sent questions to Chief Justice Salesi Temo on what is being done regarding the backlog of cases.
