A 25-year-old who attempted to murder his father has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

The court was informed that Varayame Nakarawa Waisavu on March 20th last year while his father was in the kitchen trying to light firewood to cook breakfast entered the kitchen with a cane knife and struck his father on the head from behind with the cane knife.

Waisavu also struck his father’s back. At this time, according to the court, Waisavu uttered, “o iko a rape taki Nei mai nakoro,” meaning “you raped aunty from the village.”

The incident took place in Rakiraki.

According to the medical report, Waisavu’s father sustained a left tempo parietal open fracture after he was struck on the head with a cane knife. His father also suffered bleeding on the left side of his brain and although he survived, he may not fully regain strength in his right upper and lower limbs.

Waisavu pleaded guilty to the count of attempted murder after the charge was read to him and the court convicted him accordingly.

Mitigation submitted by Waisavu’s lawyer stated that he regretted what he had done, realized his wrongdoing, was a first offender, entered an early guilty plea, cooperated with the police and is remorseful.

In his sentence, High Court Judge Sunil Sharma highlighted that Waisavu’s father was vulnerable when he was attacked.

According to the victim impact statement, his father suffered psychological and emotional harm.

As a father and victim of this attack, he is unable to fulfil his financial obligations as the head of the family due to the injuries he sustained, unable to do what he used to do and is also experiencing partial disability.

Justice Sharma told Waisavu that he cannot be forgiven for what he has done and the purpose of the minimum term is to assure the community and the public at large that offenders for such an offense serve a definite and meaningful period of imprisonment.

Waisavu will be eligible for parole after serving a minimum term of eight years and 10 days behind bars.