A man has charged over the rape and sexual assault of a female airline crew member in Fiji is expected to face court today.
According to local media sources, he is set to appear at Nadi Magistrates Court on Monday and his case could be referred to the nation’s High Court due to the seriousness of his alleged offences.
The man was charged on Saturday after the alleged rape and sexual assault of a 21-year-old member of Virgin Australia’s flight crew on New Year’s Day in Nadi, an international gateway to Fiji’s most popular tourist destinations.
Her group had gone to a nightclub district in town before one member was allegedly robbed outside the popular Bar One nightclub and the 21-year-old was reportedly sexually assaulted in separate incidents.
New claims have emerged that the man accused of rape had offered the young woman a lift back to her hotel posing as a taxi driver, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The woman, who had been separated from her friends, was attempting to make her way home following the nightclub’s 1am lockout when she was allegedly tricked into entering the man’s car.
Police investigations are ongoing.
Bar One issued a statement on Sunday following the incident.
A female member of a Virgin Australia flight crew was allegedly sexually assaulted outside the Bar One nightspot in Nadi, on Fiji’s west coast, in the early hours of Wednesday morning while a male colleague was robbed and needed to go to hospital to be treated for a facial injury
‘We would like to address the recent incident involving two crew members from Virgin Airlines,’ Bar One said in a social media post.
‘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 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 that (are) not directly related to our Bar.’
Local politicians are concerned these incidents could hurt Fiji’s tourism-reliant economy especially after seven visitors, including four Australians, fell ill after drinking cocktails at a five-star resort in December.
But the Australian government’s tourism website has not changed its advice for the Pacific nation.
It maintains Australians should exercise normal safety precautions and highlights the possibility of crime, noting the highest risk is in urban areas and at night.
The Virgin crew members stayed in their hotel near Nadi International Airport after the incidents and the airline sent support staff to Fiji.
The crew members returned to Australia last week.
Government travel advice to Fiji has not changed after alleged assaults on Virgin Australia crew. (Dave Hunt/AAP PHOTOS)
The alleged incidents came just weeks after Fiji attracted negative headlines around the world when seven tourists – including four Australians – were hospitalised after drinking pina coladas at a bar in the ritzy Warwick Resort last month.
Four Australian women aged between 18 and 56 ended up in a critical condition in hospital after consuming the drinks at the five-star resort.
They suffered nausea, vomiting and neurological symptoms with one victim’s friend telling Daily Mail Australia that she was ‘foaming at the mouth’ and having seizures.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk