A 27-year-old man who raped a woman in her 20s, stole her property, assaulted and threatened her after taking sexually explicit videos of the woman on 30th November 2017 in Nadi, has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
The court heard that Shaneil Reddy who holds Permanent Residency of Australia, exploited the vulnerability of the woman by offering her marijuana, knowing she was drunk and depressed.
High Court Judge, Justice Daniel Goundar said that after the woman passed out, Reddy moved her to a secluded hotel away from the hotel that Reddy was staying in with his wife. Reddy then raped the woman and stole her property before abandoning her in the room.
Reddy also took sexually explicit and nude videos. The court heard that he also confined the victim in a secluded location and threatened her that he would post the videos on the internet if she left the place.
The victim was smothered with a pillow to a point where she lost consciousness. She was also hit on the face.
While passing the 10 year sentence, Justice Goundar said that it is the court’s duty to protect women from sexual violence by imposing a sentence that not only deters the offender but others. He says the sentence must also mark the community’s disapproval of sexual violence against women.
Justice Goundar has set a non parole period of 7 years.
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