A man accused of raping an Australian flight attendant in the early hours of New Year’s Day has been refused bail ahead of a hearing in Fiji’s High Court.
Ilaisa Tanoa Degei, 24, a farmer from Navosa, on Fiji’s largest island Viti Levu, appeared before magistrate Mareta Tikoisuva charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of rape.
Nadi magistrates court heard allegations that in the early hours of the new year Degei sexually assaulted and digitally raped the 21-year-old Virgin crew member, from Melbourne.
Bail was refused and the case – given the severity of the charges – was immediately upgraded to the High Court in Lautoka. The case will return to court on 20 January.
Degei was remanded in custody. If convicted, he could serve up to 20 years in jail.
The alleged sexual assault, as well as a separate alleged incident of robbery, occurred after flight crew members had rung in the new year at a nightclub in Nadi, one of Fiji’s best-known tourist spots. The crew were in Fiji on a layover between flights.
The woman had reportedly been separated from her colleagues and was attempting to return to her hotel after the nightclub’s lockout when the alleged incident occurred.
Fiji’s lockout laws force all nightclubs to close at 1am.
In a separate incident, another Virgin crew member suffered injuries to his face when he was violently robbed.
The Virgin crew members had been at the Bar One nightclub in Nadi’s Martintar district, but the two incidents occurred after they had left the club.
“While we acknowledge the seriousness of the situation, we feel it is important to clarify that this incident did not take place within Bar One, nor in the immediate vicinity of our establishment,” the nightclub’s management said in a social media post.
“The Virgin Airlines crew are regular customers at Bar One and we have never experienced any similar incidents in the past, so it is disheartening to see our establishment portrayed in a negative light due to circumstances not directly related to our bar.”
The Fiji deputy prime minister and tourism minister, Viliame Gavoka, said the alleged assault and robbery were “regrettable”.
“Incidents like this can happen anywhere and Fiji is not immune.
“Our thoughts and concerns are with [the alleged victims] and for their health and wellbeing.”
The incidents are further difficult news for tourism-dependant Fiji, which relies heavily on Australian visitors for its economic wellbeing.
In December, seven people, including four Australians, were hospitalised after drinking cocktails at a five-star resort on Viti Levu’s Coral Coast.
Some of those victims suffered life-threatening seizures and bleeding from the eyes and nose, but a toxicology report returned no traces of methanol or other illicit substances in the drinks.
– With AAP