Sex crimes outrage Fiji women

Women support workers say the murders in Fiji of three sisters by a serial rapist have cast into ugly relief the appalling attitudes towards sexual crimes in the country.

The Fiji Women's Crisis Centre is calling for national action after the arrest of an Indian-Fijian fisherman, Dip Chand, over the disappearance of the young women a fortnight ago.

Chand, 42, has admitted killing the sisters and dumping their bodies in deep water off the northern coast of Viti Levu. A police spokesman said high winds were hampering the search for the bodies.

Chand's confession came after other girls in the rural community of Rakiraki came forward with accusations he had raped them.

They made their complaints after publicity about the missing sisters, last seen with Chand, who had said they were kidnapped after he had taken them on a picnic.

Edwina Kotoisuva, the centre's education training officer, told the Weekend Herald the multiple allegations by three females dating back to 2001 demonstrated the serious under-reporting of sexual assaults against women and children in Fiji. "The environment in which to make complaints is not supportive for the victims." Aashika Lata, 19, and her sisters Renuka,18, and Radhika, 17, were family friends of Chand.

He had initially claimed a group of indigenous Fijian men pulled up alongside his boat and knocked him unconscious to abduct the teenagers.

But after the rape complainants came forward, saying the island was where Chand had sexually assaulted them, he confessed all.

Chand was convicted this week of 10 rapes, including of an 11-year-old, and told police he had killed the sisters.

He has been charged with their murders.

Ms Kotoisuva said Chand had been considered a respectable member of the community of Rakiraki, a sugar-farming district.

"It is very unlikely for people to speak out against the behaviour of someone like this."

Ms Kotoisuva said a local man had witnessed Chand rape a 15-year-old girl on Malekula Island but not spoken out until now.

"He saw the girl crying and had confronted him, but Dip Chand begged for forgiveness and offered bribes. The man did not take the bribes but took it upon himself to excuse Dip Chand without thinking of the implications for the victim or on future cases."

Ms Kotoisuva said there were stereotypes in Fiji that women and children somehow provoked rape.

Such attitudes were particularly prevalent in rural communities, she said. "And the children are often not believed."

Excuses were made about the perpetrators and the process of making a complaint through the police and the courts was not always supportive of the victims.

As a result, rape was very much under-reported in Fiji, she said.

"We hope the public outcry over this case will raise awareness, act as a catalyst for change and encourage young girls to come forward and report assaults ... for the police to be more receptive."

Ms Kotoisuva said a support worker from the centre had travelled from Suva to Rakiraki to help the missing girls' parents, now left with just one son and daughter.

"The daughter who was just 11 had been planning to go on the picnic but her father had kept her home."

The police had also reopened a missing person file of Vandhana Jeet, 17, who disappeared from Naira in Rakiraki nearly three years ago.

In a strange twist, she had been last seen with Aashika Lata.

Suva police yesterday told the Weekend Herald witnesses were alleging Chand was involved in Jeet's disappearance and inquiries were continuing.