8 Sep 2017

Long jail term for Vanuatu rapist

11:23 am on 8 September 2017

A man from Maewo Island in Vanuatu has been sentenced to 14 years in jail for the rape of his house maid.

A Vanuatu police truck in the capital, Port Vila.

Photo: RNZI / Jamie Tahana

Our correspondent said it was believed to be the first time for a rapist to be sentenced for more than ten years in jail.

Women's organisations welcomed the ruling.

In another case, the Supreme Court has sentenced a 40-year old woman to seven years and two months in prison after she pleaded guilty to the rape of two primary school boys on Malekula Island.

The Daily Post reported the woman as saying that she did what she did because her husband was old.