Concern over rise in crime on girls

CRIMES committed by men on young girls are becoming prevalent in the country, Justice Panuel Mogish said when sentencing a man to nine years imprisonment for raping a nine-year-old girl.
Raivali Kini, 26, from Kelerakwa village on the Aroma Coast of Abau, Central, was sentenced at Waigani National Court for sexual penetration of a minor.
“You are not a young man, there was a huge age difference but you went ahead anyway and did it,” Mogish said.
“You saw the girl was alone in the house and you took advantage of her and raped her. This is not ordinary sex. You injured her. She was admitted to Kupiano health centre and then referred to Port Moresby General Hospital.
“The maximum amount of jail sentence for this type of offence is life imprisonment. But due to some mitigating factors in your case, I’ve decided to give you this sentence of nine years.
“The crime you committed was terrible. Crimes committed by older men against young girls are becoming so prevalent.
“We see in the newspapers and on the TV and hear about it on the radio every day of young girls being sexually abused by older men. Those found guilty of this offence must be punished, whether it’s life imprisonment or several years in jail.”
Mogish said the aggravating factors which made the offence serious were that the victim was a minor (under 16 years of age), she was threatened to not report the incident and suffered serious injuries to her genitals.
However, he considered the mitigating factors such as Kini being a first time offender, had expressed remorse, asked court for leniency and offered to compensate the victim’s family.
Considering these factors, he reduced the sentence to nine years.
The offence took place on Dec 23, 2016, at Kelerakwa, in Abau, Central.
Kini went to the victim’s house when her parents were away and grabbed her while she was scraping coconuts.
He gagged her with a strip of cloth and took her into the bedroom and raped her.
He then threatened her and told her not to tell anyone.
She sustained serious injuries to her genitals and was admitted to Kupiano health centre but then referred to Port Moresby General Hospital.
Kini will serve a balance of six years as three years was removed for the time he spent in custody.