A fourty-five-year-old woman has denied that she used her authority as a mother and sexually abused her fourteen-year-old daughter last year.

The woman who is charged with one count of rape, one count of sexual assault and one count of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm chose to give evidence before Justice Salesi Temo at the Suva High court today.

It’s alleged the woman raped and sexually assaulted her daughter between January and July last year.

The woman told the court her daughter decided to stay in an orphanage after an incident at home.

The woman visited the Social Welfare Department and requested for her daughter to be released from the orphanage to spend Christmas at home with her family.

The mother added that she started to notice a change in her daughter’s behavior when she went to school in January.

The woman said that she scolded her daughter when she used to refuse to answer her questions.

The woman maintained in court that despite this, she shared a good relationship with her daughter and three sons.

It was revealed in court that on July 13th last year, the fourteen-year-old girl was found crying when she arrived in school.

Following this, the school head teacher took her to the police station where she officially lodged a complaint against her mother.

The mother told the court that when her daughter didn’t reach home from school that day, she went to look for her where she was informed that her daughter had gone to the police station.

The mother continued to deny the allegations against her.

Questions were raised why it took her daughter seven months to lodge a complaint against her mother if she was lying.

The closing submission continues in court.