Fijian man accused of raping Virgin Australia flight attendant in Nadi denied bail
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Magistrates court heard Ilaisa Tanoa Degei allegedly sexually assaulted a 21-year-old crew member in the early hours of the new year. 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.
