A young tourist raped in Fiji warned tourists to beware the island paradise in a chilling warning that comes as the man accused of raping a Virgin Australia flight crew member appears in court on Monday.
Ilaisa Tanoa Degei allegedly posed as a taxi driver on New Year’s Eve, picked up the Virgin Australia host at a Nadi bar and allegedly raped her on the way to her hotel.
Now, a previous victim of a similar attack has broken her silence about her terrifying sexual assault by a man he had spoken to just hours before.
The 26-year-old Japanese woman was making a brief stopover at Westfield Homestay in Nadi while returning from Tonga last April when she alleges she was subjected to a brutal sexual assault.
But although police know the identity of her attacker, she believes the rapist was allowed to go free to protect Fiji’s “tropical paradise” reputation.
“I even gave them a copy of his passport which my friend picked up at reception and he still wasn’t arrested,” the victim, known as Ms R, told Daily Mail Australia.
“They care more about making money than about women’s safety.”
Ms R says that as soon as she left Fiji, she was completely blocked by the authorities and was left traumatized by both the attack and the shocking treatment she has received since.
“I was just a traveler, so if the police don’t do anything about it, then it will be like there is no problem in Fiji,” Mrs R said.
‘Instead of covering it up, they just pretend it didn’t happen at all. “It’s very disappointing.”
A Japanese tourist alleges she was raped on her second night in Fiji and then hindered by island authorities after leaving the paradise island.
The victim shared a series of bruises she alleges she suffered during the alleged assault with Daily Mail Australia.
The 26-year-old was making a brief stopover at Westfield Homestay (pictured) in Nadi when a guest brutally attacked her.
The woman was returning from Tonga last April when she was subjected to a brutal sexual assault in her accommodation (pictured).
Ms R, a physiotherapist, was awake in her bedroom when a man who said he was from Guwahati, Assam, India, but “lived in Australia” asked her to turn off the light.
He told her he wanted to sleep, but that same night she says she was attacked by the same man who raped her in the dark bedroom.
“That couldn’t have been his first time,” he said. “He seemed to know how to deal with my resistance and if he’s done it once, he’ll do it again.”
Ms R had visible wound marks on her neck and leg which she photographed as evidence.
The next morning he told a Fijian friend about the incident and together they went to report the attack to Namaka police station.
After she gave details and the location of her attacker, including a copy of her passport, police took her to hospital for medical tests.
But after leaving Fiji the next day, Mrs R says her case was forgotten.
“They never contacted me again and even when I call them they don’t give me any updates,” he said.
Ms R now says she will never return to Fiji and was devastated when she learned of the Virgin Australia staff member’s alleged rape just months after her own experience.
Alleged ‘fake taxi driver’ Ilaisa Tanoa, 24, was escorted to Nadi Magistrates Court on Monday in a police vehicle wearing a brightly colored t-shirt.
A female Virgin Australia flight crew member was allegedly sexually assaulted outside the Bar One nightspot in Nadi, on the west coast of Fiji, in the early hours of New Year’s Day, while a male colleague was assaulted and had have to go to the hospital for treatment. a facial wound
The Virgin Australia crew are now back in Australia and have been asked to remain “contactable” during the investigation so they can assist police with their ongoing investigations.
But he says he doesn’t trust Fiji’s justice system after what happened.
The 21-year-old Virgin cabin crew had been out with colleagues in a nightclub district and was allegedly sexually assaulted after leaving the Bar One club while trying to return to her hotel.
Degei, 24, a farmer from Viti Levu, Fiji’s largest island, was charged on Saturday with the New Year’s Day attack and appeared in Nadi Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
The woman, who had been separated from her friends, was trying to return home after the nightclub locked out at 1am.
A colleague was also assaulted and robbed in another incident after leaving the same club.
Last week, Daily Mail Australia exposed Nadi’s sinister underbelly, which has left unsuspecting travelers easy targets for criminals in the resort town.
Many taxis are refusing to work in the area after 10pm following a series of brutal robberies of taxi drivers, leaving revelers stranded.
“They are like sitting ducks as they often have no way home or to hotels before dawn,” one Fijian local told Daily Mail Australia.
‘A taxi driver was murdered last year and many others were robbed, so they refused to work late until the government does more to protect them.
“Not only has it caused problems for people returning to their hotels, but it has also left groups of very drunk men wandering the streets.
“There were safety concerns months ago, so the government changed the club’s operating hours to close at 1am on New Year’s Eve instead of 6am as usual.
“Attacks on tourists are not new, but they have been covered up whenever possible.”