DPP v Pratap

1. You were born in Fiji and migrated to Australia in 2008. Sereana was also a Fijian Indian who grew up in Fiji. She was encouraged by her family to get married and through personal connections was told of a man living in Australia who was looking for a wife. You and she communicated online for a period of four or five months before you flew back to Fiji for your marriage. That day in June 2010 was the first time you had met in person. After the wedding you returned to Australia and she soon followed in August 2010. You lived together in rental accommodation in Dandenong until September 2014 when you moved to your own house in Cranbourne.
2. You were working as Diesel Mechanic in Fiji and in waste management in Australia. On coming to Australia, Sereana began studying a Certificate 3 in Aged Care. She said she thought you were a kind, caring man with family values similar to her own. However, within a short period of weeks, after drinking excessively on weekends you soon became verbally and physically and abusive to her.
3. A number of uncharged acts were described by Ms Devi to the jury. She said you were verbally abusive and at times would throw things at her such as the TV remote or bottles. At times you grabbed the phone from her when she was speaking to her parents and were verbally abusive about her family. Not uncommonly you later apologised for your behaviours and promised you would not act in that way again.
4. Those behaviours as I said are not the subject of any charge. They do not aggravate the particular offences for which I am to sentence you, however they set the realistic background to your offending. They demonstrate that these were not one-off incidents or isolated examples of bad behaviour against her.
5. The specific acts for which I am to sentence you, in line with the jury verdicts, are as follows.

1. On 22 January 2011, you and Sereana visited your friend George[3] and Salome Sharan[4] at their house in Sunshine West for a birthday. Salome Sharan was called as a witness in the trial.
2. You and George were drinking alcohol and became drunk and started arguing.
3. Sereana was looking after the Sharan's baby daughter in a bedroom while Salome was cooking dinner. You went into the bedroom and pulled Sereana's hair, telling her to pack her bags and that you were going home. She did not have a driver's licence and she told you that you could not drive because you had been drinking.
4. You punched and slapped Sereana. She gave evidence that you 'got so wild that that he started punching and hitting... me', and that 'he was punching my face and all over my body'.
5. Salome Sharan also gave evidence about this event. She said her husband was already drunk when you arrived and that you brought a slab with you and both of you continued drinking to the point where you were also drunk.
6. She said she heard the baby crying and went into the bedroom. She described seeing you pulling Sereana's hair and hitting her. She said Sereana was trying to protect Ms Sharan's young daughter. Salome Sharan described the incident as 'overwhelming'. She tried to stop you before running to get her husband. You then became aggressive to both of them at which point Salome told you 'If you don't leave I will call the cops'. You then left the room.
7. The acts of punching Sereana are the basis of Charge 1 (Common assault).
8. Salome then said to Sereana 'You can stay back, he can go' but you returned and started to drag Sereana out of the house by pulling her hair with one hand and punching her with the other. Salome gave further evidence that Sereana 'was screaming and she was crying, asking him to stop'. Those acts of dragging her by the hair and punching her are the basis of Charge 2 (Common assault).
9. George managed to restrain you and managed to move you outside the house. Undeterred, you returned again, grabbed Sereana by her collar and threw her to the floor. She said 'he put one of his foot on my neck, and placed it down. I was screaming and crying, then Salome also started screaming and crying' and that 'when he had put his foot on my neck, he was saying he wanted to kill me'. She said she was shivering and struggling to breathe. The act of throwing her to the floor and putting your foot on her neck and threatening to kill her is the basis of Charge 3 (Common assault). I make clear that I understand I am not sentencing you for a threat to kill charge.
10. Salome Sharan gave evidence that at times during this event Sereana was choking and gasping for air. Sereana gave further evidence that 'he dragged me by my collar, and he - he dragged me - he grabbed me off the ground by my collar, and then he pushed me through the veranda into his car and we left.' Both women described you throwing things at Sereana as you left the premises via the verandah.
11. While in the car on the way home, Ms Devi gave evidence that 'he was punching and hitting me on my face, on my head, on my neck, on my shoulders and on my back' and while doing so you were saying 'all sorts of bad words ... in Hindi'. As I understand it, derogatory abuse to her.
12. On the way home, Ms Devi at one point asked you to slow down. She said you 'punched the windscreen and the windscreen got cracked. Then he punched me on my face so badly that I started bleeding from my mouth, and I had blood all over my clothes.' The events in the car constitute Charge 4 (Common law assault).
13. When you reached the area of Dandenong Hospital, you were driving erratically and were stopped by police in Davis Street, Dandenong. The police gave you a preliminary breath test and then asked you to accompany them for a full breath test. You refused and the police seized your licence and car keys.
14. You and Sereana then had to walk home. On the way she gave further evidence that 'he pinned me on the fences and he punched me everywhere, like a punching bag. He slapped me on my face and on my body with his open hand. He kicked me on my groins, he kicked me on my bum, very hard... I was crying and begging him to stop hitting me as I was in a lot of pain. Then he started dragging me by pulling my hair on the footpath'. Those acts are the basis of Charge 5 (Common assault).
15. When you reached your home you told Sereana that she was to blame. You then slept on the couch. Sereana gave evidence that 'In the morning when I woke up ... I was too scared to see my own face in the mirror, because my face was covered with cuts and bruises.'
16. As a result of failing to accompany the police to the police station for a breath test you were charged and appeared at Dandenong Magistrates' Court on 17 May 2011. You lost your driver's licence for two years. Thereafter, you encouraged Sereana to learn to drive. She had started working in aged care by this time but would drive you to work or to your friends' houses when her shifts allowed.

1. On one occasion between 2 July and December 2011, Ms Devi was driving home with you after you had been drinking at your friend Semesa Deo's[5] house in Boronia. Sereana described being a new driver and nervous on unfamiliar roads. At one point she stopped at a red light. You began punching her, telling her to cross. She said, 'he punched me on my eye, and my eye glasses got cracked. I screamed in pain, then he tried to strangle me with his both hand, and when I started choking, he took his hands off. On the way I cried all the way home, and he kept pulling my hair with full strength'. Those acts of punching her to the eye, strangling her, pulling her hair, and hitting her are the basis of Charge 6 (Common assault).
2. Sereana suffered a black eye and slight cut under her left eye. She did not take any shifts at work until the bruising had disappeared.

1. Between 3 July and December 2011, Sereana was driving home after midnight from Point Cook. Again, as a new driver she was nervous and said she was scared to drive on the freeway. She drove under the speed limit. She gave evidence 'He told me to drive on the zone [at the speeding limit], and when he saw me I was driving under, he started punching me on my head with his closed fist'. That act of punching her is the basis of Charge 7 (Common law assault).
2. When you arrived home, you locked Sereana out of the bedroom.

1. In late 2013 between September and December, Sereana went shopping to buy a gift for a friend who was having a baby. She tried to call you to tell you where she was but you did not answer.
2. On her return home you asked her where she went and why she had not told you. She replied she had tried to call you, but you had not answered. She said in response you 'grabbed my hair, and he hit my head on the edge of the glass table, and I had a cut on the right‑hand side of my head.' That act forms the basis of Charge 8 (Common assault).
3. Sereana gave evidence that the cut would not stop bleeding so she put Vaseline on it. The bleeding persisted and you eventually had to take her to Dandenong Hospital Emergency Department. She told the doctor that she had hit her head on a brick wall while she was running with a basket of clothes in the dark. Two or three stitches were inserted to stop the bleeding. After this incident, you promised you would not hurt her again.

1. Despite that promise, not long after, you became angry at her and threw a bottle at her. It missed her but hit a window smashing it. You and Sereana at that time were living in the Dandenong rental, and she described the fact that your landlady, Ms Pasepa Cama[6] came to your door with the rent invoice and spoke to her about the broken window.
2. Pasepa Cama was called as a witness at your trial and corroborated Ms Devi's account of that conversation. Pasepa Cama gave evidence saying that she 'knocked on the door [and] noticed the glass window was broken.' She said, 'Sereana took a while to open the door'. She described her. She said Sereana 'looked - she was in agony and stressed... and that she started to cry'. Sereana let Ms Pasepa Cama in and said to her that 'Ravinesh abused me'. Ms Pasepa Cama saw she had a black eye. Ms Pasepa Cama further stated that when she asked Ms Devi about the broken window Sereana told her '"he throw the beer bottle" at her and she ducked and it hit the window'. The act of throwing the bottle at Sereana is the foundation of Charge 9 (Common assault).

1. On a weekday during 2013 to 2014 you and Sereana were in bed talking. She gave evidence at your trial that 'When I wanted to sleep, I said 'good night' to him, and I turned to face away from him facing the door. Then he said, 'You're going to sleep now?' And I said, 'Yes'. [You] said, 'I thought we were going to have sex before you went to sleep'. She stated 'I told him I didn't feel like it today. Then what he did, he forcefully kicked me on my lower back with his foot, and I fell on the floor. I hit the top of my head and the side of my neck on the bedside table.
2. She stated 'I was lying on the floor on my back, facing up, then he got out of the bed over my side, and he stood over me.' She said to you 'I have hurt my head, why did you kick me out of the bed?'. She said he then 'put one of his [feet] on my chest, and he pressed it down.' She said she 'tried to move [your] foot off [her] and [you] said, "This is what will happen when you say no to sex"'.
3. You then 'grabbed [her] from [her] front collar'. She said_, He got me up off the ground and he threw me on the bed. When he threw me on the bed, I move[d] across the bed to the wall. Then he got on to the bed, and he said, "Sit up"._
4. Sereana complied with your demand and she said she 'sat with [her] back against the wall.' You said 'Look at me' and when she turned [her] face, he slapped me on both cheeks one at a time with his open hand.] The acts of kicking Sereana, putting your foot on her chest, as well as slapping her face is the basis of Charge 10 (Common assault).
5. You then told Sereana 'It doesn't matter if you refuse for sex, I will still have sex with you'. Then he grabbed my pants and my undies together at my waist, and he pulled them down off my legs. ‑‑‑Then he came in front of me, facing me. He grabbed my both legs and pull them apart. He moved his body closer between my legs. I was crying. I had lot of tears, I don't know if I said anything or not. Then he moved closer between my legs and he put his penis inside my vagina. His both hands were resting on the bed either side of my chest, and he was moving forward and backward until he was done. He didn't say any word. ... ‑‑‑I was crying, I cried the whole time. That is the basis of Charge 11 (Rape).
6. The next morning you told Sereana to call in sick. She did so and had to get a medical certificate. She attended Modern Medical Dandenong and saw Dr Rekha Kumar. You attended the appointment with her. She told the doctor she had fallen off the bed and hurt her neck. She was given a certificate for work.

1. On 4 September 2014, you and Sereana moved into your home that you owned and built in Cranbourne East. Two days after moving in you both returned home at about 10 pm after being at your friends Daniel[7] and Taitusi Mudaliar's[8] house. Sereana changed into her pyjamas before going straight to bed.
2. You went to bed shortly after and you told her that you wanted to have sex. Not wanting to have sex, she told you that she did not remember where she put the condoms and would look for them the next day.
3. You then started swearing at her. She gave evidence that 'He started hitting me on the left‑hand side of my face, he hit me many times on my face and on my body with his closed fist. Since both of us were under the blanket, so he was hitting my body on top of the blanket'. The act of hitting her forms the basis of Charge 12 (common law assault).
4. She then said, ' he grabbed my hair, which was in a pony tail, and he pushed me out of the bed. And then after he stopped hitting me, he got out of the bed from his side and he came to my side. When I turned my head up I saw he was holding a knife in his hand. ... he dragged me out of the bed by pulling my hair with one hand, and he held the knife in his other.' She said '... he pulled me up out of the bed ‑ the force and the pain of pulling my hair lifted me out of the bed, and I was bent over just walking behind him while he held my hair. He dragged me from the bedroom to the hallways, from the hallways to the living room.'
5. Sereana described the knife as a traditional knife from Fiji which you had bought on a visit. Those acts together form the basis of Charge 12, that is punching her face, punching her body, dragging her by the hair, and threatening her with a knife.
6. She said 'when we got to the living room, he let go of me, and then I saw him walking towards the couch. He sat on the couch, he was still holding the knife in his right hand...he told me, 'I'm going to call your parents now and your brother, and tell them that your daughter is not giving me her arse'. I was crying and saying, 'Please don't call my parents' and he said, 'If you don't want me to call your parents, then bend down and show me your arse'. Sereana said she was 'very ashamed and embarrassed' at the idea of talking about sex with her family.
7. She said that whilst in the lounge room, she said 'I turned around towards him as he wanted, I bent down, and I took off my black leggings. Then when I was taking my undies off, I heard him coming towards me, and he kicked me. Then he kicked me hard on my bum, and I fell on the floor sitting down. I was crying, I had hurt my lips and my nose. Then he pulled me up by my ponytail hair, and he told me, 'This is what will happen when you will say no to sex'. Then he let go of my hair and he started - - - smashing the plastic rubbish bin that was on top of the bench top'. You used a knife to do so. She said 'the bin was broken into pieces, and he told me, 'This is how I'm going to cut you into pieces'.
8. She gave further evidence that you put the 'knife on the bench top. He grabbed me by my hair again, and he dragged me back in the hallway, back into the bedroom ... As we got through the door, he pulled me to the ... end of our bed, and he used my ponytail to push me on the bed. Those acts of kicking her, dragging her by the hair, and threatening her with the knife in the lounge room are the basis of Charge 13 (Common law assault).
9. She said, 'I landed on the bed on my back facing him. Then he moved around from his side of the bed, and he got on to the bed. ... By then he didn't have the knife with him 'cause he already left it on the bench top. I was lying on the bed on top of the sheet. He moved closer to me. I was still wearing my night dress, my bra and undies. Then he put his hand on top of my dress, and he grabbed my undies and pulled them down my legs off my feet, and then I saw him taking off his clothes. He took off his pants, it was a black three-quarter pants, he was not wearing underwear. He still had his top on.

‑‑‑Then he came beside me, he grabbed my right leg, spreading towards him, then he got on top of me, he put his penis inside my vagina. ... I tried to push on his chest with my both hands, but I couldn't, because he was too strong and heavy for me. Then he slapped my arms off his chest, whilst he was holding himself ... When he slapped my arms off his chest, then I was too afraid to push him again, so I just kept my hands beside me, and he kept pushing his penis in and out of my vagina.' After 'a few minutes' you ejaculated inside her_._ Those events are Charge 14 (Rape).

1. The following morning you told Sereana that whatever happened the previous night was her fault.

1. On 26 April 2015 you and Sereana had an argument about your sister. You were drinking alcohol. She said, 'Then he started hitting me, he started strangling me, then he went into the bedroom and he brought the knife. Then he pinned me on the wall and he put the knife to my throat, twice.' That act is Charge 15 (Common law assault).
2. Sereana begged you to leave her and not kill her. You took the knife from her neck and cut a pillow that was on the bed. You then smashed her crystal glassware that was in a display unit and then told her to clean it up.
3. Sereana said she intended to go to the police but you were still holding the knife and you took her keys and phone and locked all the doors.
4. On 28 April 2015 Sereana found the knife beside the bed. She decided to hide it under a bed in a spare room.
5. In mid-May 2015 she returned to Fiji to see her family and on returning 30 May she discovered the knife was not where she had hidden it. She called you and asked you about some other items she could not find. You told her that you did not have them, but you did have the knife.
6. The fact you were in possession of a knife which you had already used against her was the catalyst which finally prompted her to seek police intervention. She reported your assault of her to police.
7. On 3 June 2015 the police interviewed you. You denied any wrongdoing. An intervention order was made on 5 June 2015 on the application of police with Sereana Devi as the protected person. That order was made with your consent but without any admissions. The order prohibited you from being at the house.
8. After this, family friends of yours, namely Daniel and Taitusi Mudaliar and Semesa Deo approached Sereana telling her that you wanted to reconcile and were begging for a second chance. She described these people as older members of your Fijian Indian community and it is clear she respected them and also felt pressure to follow their advice. She agreed to reconcile and the intervention order was amended to allow you to return to the house. I accept her evidence about those conversations and those events. I accept her evidence that Semesa Deo told her he had taken the knife and put it in his garage and that he showed her that. On his evidence, although he denied having the knife, he agreed that she had told him that you had threatened her with a knife.
9. On 10 June 2015 Sereana made a statement to police requesting that no further action be taken against you. You recommenced your relationship in August 2015.
10. It appears there may have been some improvement. She fell pregnant in early 2017, which she described as something both of you wanted.

1. However, in March 2017 when she was approximately three months pregnant you committed further offences against her.
2. She described at that point that she was working evening shifts and that on one evening she returned home at about 9 pm. She was tired and went straight to bed. She said, 'Ravinesh came to bed as well. We both had a chat while lying down together ... I was lying on my side facing Ravinesh, and that's when he asked for sex... I told him, 'I don't want to have sex, I'm having pain in my lower abdomen'. He was not happy, the tone in his voice changed, he hit me on the left-hand side of my face, on my cheek, then he grabbed his pillow, he put it over my face and he pressed it down. He was holding the pillow on either side. I wasn't able to breathe, which was for a few seconds, then I lifted my hands, and I pushed the pillow up with both my hands. I don't know what happened to the pillow .... He grabbed my neck with one of his hand, and he pressed it down. His thumb was on my oesophagus, and windpipe, while the rest of his fingers were on the side and back of my neck. I could feel ... his thumb was pushing down on my throat. I was trying to cough, I don't know if I was able to breathe or not. He was just next to me on the bed on his knees while holding my throat. ...When I started choking and coughing, then he took his hands off my neck. I was very scared, I was shivering, I was crying.' Those acts form the basis of Charge 16 (Common law assault).
3. Ms Devi continued, 'Then he grabbed my pants and undies together that I was wearing, pulled them down my legs, off my feet and threw it. Then I saw him taking off his pants, I saw his penis was erect, and this made me so scared, that if I will resist he will hurt me more. Then he grabbed my both legs with his hands, one hand on each leg. My legs were up in the air facing the ceiling. Then he moved ... on his knees on the bed, ... he placed his penis in a position where I had my vagina. He put his penis into my vagina and began pushing back and forth. I was crying and saying, 'Stop, stop, stop'. I was holding my lower tummy with both my hands and crying, but he didn't stop, he just kept pushing. Then he brought both my ankles together with one hand while he held himself with the other. He was moving forward and backward, he was pushing his penis in and out while I held my tummy and cried. He kept on pushing, it went for few minutes. After ejaculation he took his hands off my legs, and he got out of the bed...he went to the toilet, and then he went to the kitchen. I heard him opening the fridge, he took out the beer bottles. After that, I got up, I went to the toilet, I cleaned myself up, cause I could still feel semen dripping out of my vagina. I dressed up again, I took two Panadols for the pain, I went back to bed. I cried for a while, and then I fell off to sleep.' Those acts are the basis of Charge 17 (Rape).
4. The next morning she went to work, when Sereana returned home you were again drinking beer. You told her that what had had happened was all her fault because she had refused you. She began to cry which you commented was all she was good at.

1. On Saturday 27 May 2017 you and Sereana had dinner with your family friends who you referred to as aunt and uncle, Lilieta Deo[9] (Auntie Lilieta) gave evidence. She and her husband were visiting you from Sydney and staying with you. Sereana was five months pregnant at the time. At about 11 pm Sereana and Lilieta went to bed while you and your uncle stayed up drinking.
2. At about 2 am Sereana heard you swearing loudly at your uncle and went to the living room. You yelled at her for being there, to get out and go back to bed. She did so. You followed her to the bedroom. She said 'Ravinesh came in the bedroom and he started punching at the window shutters next to my side of the bed ... he grabbed my hair at the back, back of my hair, and he pulled me out of the bed.'
3. Lilieta Deo was woken and followed the noise to the bedroom.
4. Sereana continued, 'Uncle was standing in front of him and Auntie was standing beside him. Since Ravinesh was sitting with his whole body on the bed, he was able to kick out his foot at me and hit at my stomach. He was kicking at my stomach while I was sitting there. Every time he kicked out, he hit the right side of my stomach. I counted it was five times. So when he kicked me for the first time, Uncle tried to grab his shoulder while Auntie was trying to block his leg from hitting my stomach. Despite Uncle ... trying to hold him back, he was able to move closer to me on the bed. He grabbed my hair and pulled my head down on the bed. ---Then he slapped me on my face repeatedly with his open hand, and he punched me on my back few times with his closed fist.'
5. Lilieta Deo gave evidence. She said_, 'I heard Sereana screaming and asking like, 'Don't hit me, don't hit me', and then I went in my room so I saw Ravinesh hitting Sereana.'_ She described you holding Sereana by her hair. She described you and her husband as drunk. She went and got her husband and returned to the room where she said, 'I saw Ravinesh hitting her many times, he kicked her, hit her, and swearing and saying that, 'She reported, that she has reported me police. She was annoying me. ... . I was enjoying with my kaka and then Sereana provoked me.'
6. Lilieta Deo said, 'He punched her, even kicked her. There was lots of things happening, pulling and pushing was happening.' She was asked what Sereana was doing during that time and she said, 'She was trying to save herself and she was asking Ravinesh not to hit her, and Sereana said, 'Okay, sorry if I said something'. She was apologising too. She was saying, 'It's hurting me, don't hit me' and just like holding her tummy. She was crying.'
7. Sereana described her face being swollen the following day from your assault. Lilieta Deo also had bruising to her arms from trying to intervene.
8. Those acts of grabbing Sereana by the hair, slapping or hitting her face, and kicking her stomach are the basis of Charge 18 (assault).
9. Ultimately your aunt and uncle were able to intervene. Lilieta Deo took Sereana to another room and slept with her.
10. On the Monday, Sereana was required to attend a pre-natal check at Monash Hospital. She gave very moving evidence that she asked the mid-wife if her baby was alright. She said 'I asked her if she could show me my baby on the monitoring screen... So she did, she showed me my baby, his hands and legs, they're moving, he was moving around, I was happy that my baby is alive, he didn't get hurt... If I didn't hear the heartbeat of my baby and the movement, I would have told her everything that happened that night.'
11. She also gave evidence that she did not complain because she was pregnant and alone and asked rhetorically 'who would look after me and my baby'.
12. In September 2017 Sereana gave birth to a baby boy.
13. On 30 June 2018 she had a car accident and had injuries to her spine, shoulders and knees which took over 10 months to recover.

1. On a morning between June and September 2018, you and Sereana were laying together in your bed talking. Your son was lying between you. You told her that you wanted to have sex. She told you her back was very painful, and she was still recovering. You told her she was always complaining about pain.
2. You then took the baby to the living room and gave him a bottle and returned to the bedroom about 45 minutes later. She said, 'he walked to my side of the bed, he pulled the blanket that I was under, and he started slapping me...on my legs 'When I ask for sex, you have no choice to say yes or no ... Then while he was still standing next to my side of the bed, he grabbed my both legs near my knees and started pulling them apart It was really hurting when he was pulling my legs apart, it was hurting on my groins, as I was just about three months into my recovery. I was still very sore all over my body. I was crying and screaming in pain. When I was screaming I was saying, 'Help me Babba, save me Babba, help Mummy'. And I think my baby heard my voice, because Ravinesh was using his full strength, as if he was going to rip my legs off my body. He was just yelling and pulling my legs apart for maybe around two to three minutes. Then I heard my baby crying near the bedroom door, and that's when Ravinesh let go of my legs.'
3. That is the basis of Charge 19 (Common law assault).
4. Sereana said she was in pain and could not walk properly. She took Panadol and stayed in bed for the whole day.
5. You brought Kamal[10] to the bedroom at about 5 pm and left him on the bed before leaving the house. You returned at 8 pm and asked Sereana why she had not cooked anything. She told you she was in pain and you swore at her, closing the bedroom door and going into the living area.
6. After that incident, you and Sereana did not speak to each other for a week except about the baby. In early 2019 you moved to another bedroom in the house. You worked and Sereana continued to recover and look after Kamal.
7. In April 2019 you and Sereana had an argument. You were swearing and threatening her. She called police although she did not report the events for which I am now to sentence you and there was no police action against you.
8. You reconciled again at the end of 2019, and in early 2020 you moved back into the bedroom.
9. On 21 February 2021 you and Sereana had an argument in which you threatened her. In frustration, she picked up Kamal's trike which was nearby and threw it at you. You called police. Your arm was fractured. The police told Sereana to leave the house.
10. An intervention order was made against her preventing her from returning to the home. She was homeless for some five months, living in her car while she continued working. She was able to see Kamal in the afternoons.
11. At around that time and after that incident, she began counselling sessions with the wellbeing manager at her workplace, Carmen Grey.[11] Ms Grey gave evidence at the trial. She developed a relationship of trust with Sereana. Sereana was able to disclose to her the physical abuse and ultimately the sexual offending. Ms Grey stated in evidence 'that Sereana told me about the incident with the knife, she told me that her ex husband requested sex and he said that was his right because he was an Indian man and she had to be a proper wife. He threatened to tell her family that she wasn't a proper wife.'
12. On 9 September 2021 Sereana made a formal complaint to police. Her 12-page statement was completed on 25 October 2021.

1. You were interviewed by police on 8 May 2022. You denied all offending. You said you were 'a little bit shocked' regarding the allegations, and that 'she's [Sereana] taking this thing very bitter, this separation'[12]. You claimed that she was not happy about you moving on in life, saying 'she's not happy about this. She's just on me, she's trying - she's trying to get me through sexual abuse'.
2. You described the relationship as stable and cooperative, highlighting the fact that you washed your own clothes, cooked your own meals, and generally looked after yourself as evidence that the offending could not have taken place. You further highlighted the fact that Sereana continued to be present in the relationship as demonstrative that the offending could not have occurred.
3. You were not charged for some 12 months. The reasons for that delay have not been explained to me.
4. A committal hearing took place in March 2024 where Sereana Devi, Taitusi Mudaliar, Carmen Grey and Lilieta Deo were cross examined before the matter was committed to this court.
5. Sereana was further cross examined at a s198 hearing in June 2025 before she gave evidence over the course of several days at your trial before me in September 2025. Your trial remained in the reserve list on 16 September 2025 before being allocated to me on 17 September 2025. Your trial commenced on that day.
6. On 2 October 2025 the jury found you guilty of all charges.
7. You were remanded in custody on that date and your matter was adjourned for mention to 16 October 2025 and a plea proceeded before me on Monday, 15 December 2025.

1. It is trite to say this is serious offending. In more recent times, higher Courts, like the community they represent, have looked more closely at intimate partner violence. They have recognised that it has been a secret scourge on our community, that it is crippling to the women abused and traumatic for any children, that it carries a risk of more and more serious injury and death.
2. For those reasons, the principles of sentencing which apply to such cases are now well understood. Sentences must deter other offenders, usually men, from taking advantage of a partner for their own sexual gratification or from inflicting physical or psychological harm. Sentences must denounce the behaviour by reflecting the community's disgust and disapproval of it, and sentences must work to protect women from being violated in a relationship.
3. Higher Courts have universally stated that this type of offending warrants significant punishment. The sinister nature of intimate partner violence is exacerbated by the fact that it is often hidden, usually happening in private when most often only two people are present. Research shows that women are less likely to report the violence of their intimate partners than to report an offence committed by a stranger. The capacity to report it can be complicated by feelings of emotional attachment to the perpetrator.
4. There is usually a reluctance on the part of a victim to seek help - either because of threats, or fear of repercussions, or fear of not being believed. That reluctance is often the result of physical abuse. It is often due to the feelings of shame, humiliation and embarrassment caused to a victim.
5. There is cumulative impact of intimate partner abuse. Due to the ongoing and repeated nature of violence victims are often afflicted with a range of physical and mental health conditions.
6. It is often, as here, complicated by the presence of a child or children. It is exacerbated when the victim has limited resources or other supports or means of escape or are isolated. And it is often because those victims are told the abuse is their fault. The complexity of escaping such a relationship and seeking help cannot be underestimated.
7. For those reasons, any sentencing Court must send a strong message to offenders and the community at large.

• 107 The Victorian Court of Appeal in Pasinis v The Queen,[13] stated -

General deterrence is of fundamental importance in cases of domestic violence. The victims of such violence are often so enveloped by fear that they are incapable of either escaping the violence or reporting it to the authorities. The key to protection lies in deterring the violent conduct by sending an unequivocal message to would-be perpetrators of domestic violence that if they offend, they will be sentenced to a lengthy period of imprisonment so that they are no longer in a position to inflict harm.

• 108 In Kalala v The Queen,[14] the same Court discussed the scourge of domestic violence in the community stating -

The trial courts of this State are imposing sentences for family violence offences with increasing frequency. This Court has repeatedly emphasised the need to condemn family violence, in line with community expectations. In Filiz v The Queen, the Court acknowledged the 'shameful truth that family violence is a leading cause of illness, disability and death among Victorian women aged between 15 and 44.

1. Put simply the community is sick of and sickened by men like you who perpetrate violence on their innocent partners. This court must reflect that community sentiment when considering the appropriate sentence to impose.

1. The impact of your behaviour on Sereana Devi reflects a number of those themes and has been significant. She prepared a victim impact statement describing the mental, physical and social effect of your offending. She has asked for that statement not to be read aloud and as such I will not recite verbatim its contents.
2. However, she describes being a confident and happy person prior to your relationship. She was optimistic and excited about coming to Australia and building a life with you, even though she knew no one and did not know you. Within weeks you began to abuse her, becoming a very different person when you drank alcohol. She suffered anxiety and wanted to flee.
3. The confines and pressures of her culture, her family expectations and what she felt was the presumption of her community that she would be at fault if her marriage failed were extreme. It is clear she told various people of your abuse. Ms Taitusi Mudaliar gave evidence that culturally 'they don't share family stuff. But I did ask her things. There's lots of times she would just cry, that's all she used to do. ... I didn't want them to separate.... We just try to keep families together.'
4. Lilieta Deo also spoke of a complaint made by Sereana to her. She referred to a visit in September 2016 and she was asked, 'Did she tell you anything about her and Ravinesh's relationship at that time? Answer_: Yeah, she did mention that she has bit of domestic violence between each other. She did mention that they do have domestic violence and Ravinesh abuses her, just abuses her when he gets drunk._
5. Without wanting to criticise those other women who it is clear also felt cultural constraint, it is clear that Sereana Devi has been let down by others in her community. You have to an extent taken advantage of that situation.
6. People living in what might be described as 'traditional' patriarchal communities must wake up to the fact that the only person to blame for acts of violence in a marriage such as this, is the perpetrator. You Mr Pratap are the only person responsible for the breakdown of your marriage and your despicable treatment of Sereana.
7. She has suffered extensively at your hands. She has experienced anxiety, feelings of confusion and hopelessness. She has had panic attacks and the stress of trauma. She says she still feels scared, anxious, and has trouble sleeping and concentrating. She has flashbacks, nightmares and dissociation when re-experiencing your treatment of her.
8. Physically she suffered the immediate effect of your assaults. She experienced bruising and shame and embarrassment that that caused her. She lost income when she could not work.
9. Although I accept that you are not responsible for the fact she was and continues to be shunned by your community, you certainly took advantage of the fact that you knew the cultural pressures at play. She has been judged entirely unfairly.
10. You also took advantage of the fact that you know culturally there is an aspect of male prominence. I do not expect most Indian men would in any way approve of or condone your behaviour. I expect most Indian men, like most men in the community, would find it abhorrent.
11. You told Sereana that she was your wife, and as such, you expected her to comply with your sexual demands. On the occasion of each rape you did not treat her as an equal or as a person worthy of respect but were concerned with your sexual gratification.[15]
12. You also took complete advantage of her one act of frustration when, no doubt at the end of her tether, she threw a child's tricycle at you. The fact you then made a complaint to police and allowed for her to be excluded from your home and her child is in my view morally reprehensible. You should be ashamed, knowing that she was made homeless and was largely alone. The fact you allowed that to happen, knowing how you had offended against her over years is disgraceful.
13. Your behaviour against your former wife has left her isolated from her community. She is totally misunderstood by them, despite the fact some of them witnessed your abuse of her. I note not one of the men who did so gave evidence about it.
14. Your abuse has left her emotionally scarred and with physical health issues.
15. In my view Ms Sereana Devi was a dignified woman giving evidence of very traumatic events and she did so with courage and honesty. It has been a very long road since she made her formal complaint in 2021, and even longer since her complaint to police in 2015, after which she was obviously cajoled back into her marriage. She has not wavered in her determination to bring the abuse to light and to tell her story. I take into account the impact of your offending on her.
16. Be clear Mr Pratap, and those around you, that the jury of 12 independent people drawn from the community, found Sereana Devi to be a witness of truth. That is, having assessed her evidence, they believed her. They clearly found her to be honest, reliable and credible. For the vast majority of charges, it can only be on the basis of her evidence that they found you guilty. On occasions when it was just you and she present - which is the majority of charges - they accepted her account as truthful. Where there was supporting evidence from other witnesses, that no doubt fortified their view. In doing so, also be clear, that they rejected your account given in the record of interview.

1. Turning to my assessment of the objective gravity of your offending. I take into account the following features which serve to aggravate the offending overall.
2. Your victim was your wife. By virtue of that status, she was entitled to love, respect and kindness from you. She was entitled to and should have been able to trust you. You breached that trust in an egregious way.
3. She ultimately became the mother of your child. That fact should have enhanced your feelings of and caring behaviour towards her. Instead, it seems to me that your frustration, either because she was pregnant or because no doubt she was impacted by the fatigue and effort of caring for a baby, resulted in you placing increasing demands on her. Twice you offended against her, on one occasion sexually, when she was pregnant. That is a physical and emotional state which you completely disregarded in favour of your own sexual satisfaction.
4. You offended against her after she had suffered injury in a car accident and was recovering, again completely disregarding her pain and physical state.
5. Your offending was repetitive, spanning the period between 2011 to 2018.
6. It occurred largely in her home, a place which should have been her sanctuary and where she was entitled to feel safe.
7. You offended even after police intercepted you in 2011 when you were driving. You continued to offend after Ms Devi had made a complaint in 2015 to police and when they took out an intervention order for her protection. Those interactions with police should have caused you to pause, to reflect and to desist in your behaviour towards her.
8. You offended even when other people were present and continued to do so even after they confronted you about your behaviour.
9. You acted with entitlement, viewing her as an object purely because she was your wife.

1. In relation to the offences of common law assault, the maximum penalty for each of those offences is five years' imprisonment.
2. Many of the offences here reflect a number of actions to found the specific offence. Those are particularised in each charge on the indictment. I have no reason to believe that the jury, having accepted the evidence of Sereana Devi beyond reasonable doubt to find each charge proven, did not accept the different particulars alleged. I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that they are the foundation for each charge.
3. I accept that most of those multiple actions founding an individual common law assault charge occurred in quick succession.
4. In the case of multiple common law assault charges occurring over a single incident, I take into account the timing of those events. The fact they are a single series of assaults has been taken into account by me in my consideration of totality and will be reflected in my orders for cumulation.
5. In relation to Charges 3, 6 and 10, the act of strangulation or pressure to her neck is a very serious form of that offence. That is particularly so when you placed your foot on her neck. Pressure or strangulation to the neck has potentially serious health consequences and is an act which you must have known carried risk of real harm to her.
6. Your act of putting the pillow over her face reflected in Charge 16 when she was three months' pregnant was also extremely serious. It was accompanied by the act of pushing your thumb into her throat to the point she was not sure if she could breathe. Only her coughing and spluttering stopped you going further.
7. Similarly, your act of assaulting her by holding the knife to her neck in Charge 15 is a serious example of common law assault. On that occasion you continued your show of violence by smashing personal objects on display and which were at least of sentimental value to her. You also took her keys and wallet as a means of controlling any capacity she had to leave the home, and to report you.
8. You demonstrated your power with the knife also on the occasion when you cut the bin.
9. You used the knife as a show of force prior to raping her.
10. You also played psychological games with her, finding and moving the knife and then telling her you had it.
11. Your act of repeatedly kicking her to her stomach, in Charge 18, is also serious as she was five months' pregnant at that time. Her fear that you had caused damage to her baby was very clear as she recounted her ante-natal appointment. Her fear and deep concern for her unborn child was palpable.
12. Your ongoing disregard for her is reflected in Charge 19 where despite recovering from a serious car accident, you pulled her legs apart and ignored her distress at the pain that caused her. That act was only interrupted by the cries of the baby.
13. Charge 9 involving the throwing of a bottle and the resulting broken window, though obviously very intimidating and intended to hit Ms Devi, is the least serious offence here.
14. In contrast, in my view each other act of common law assault is a serious example of the offence, involving as they do either multiple acts of violence, pressure on her neck, or the use of a weapon, and at times committed when she was pregnant.

1. In relation to the offences of rape, that is an offence met by a maximum term of 25 years' imprisonment. It is one of the most serious offences on the criminal calendar. I make clear that given the dates of your offending these are not met by standard sentencing.
2. The features outlined in Jurj v The Queen[16] are commonly understood to be pertinent to an assessment of the objective gravity of a rape offence. Those features are non-prescriptive and in my view there are some limitations in using them in rapes within intimate partner settings which tend to have a different complexion.[17] Although the case of Johns was provided to me and referred to by both parties, and is a case concerning rape in marriage, to my mind it is a little dated in its approach to what has become better understood about intimate partner sexual offending since it was decided in 2016. That complexion is better and amply described by the Court of Appeal in DPP v Mokhtari and repeated in DPP v Patil.[18]
3. In addition to that broader context, I take into account that rape is an inherently serious and very personal offence. It is a crime of violence involving the invasion and breach of the physical integrity of another person. Here it occurs in the shadow of general controlling and violent behaviour, and on each occasion was immediately preceded by other violence.
4. A number of the incidents are protracted.
5. Incident 6 is reflected in Charge 10 of assault and Charge 11 of rape.
6. Incident 7 reflected in Charges 12 and 13 of assault and 14 of rape is particularly demeaning. To my observation Ms Devi struggled to give evidence about it, becoming distressed despite her efforts to control herself in the witness box.
7. After you punched her face and body and threatened her with the knife, you dragged her by the hair from the bedroom to the living room and threatened to call her parents. You spoke about her 'not giving you arse' and made her bend over naked in front of you in the loungeroom. You again threatened her with a knife, dragged her back to the bedroom and used her hair to throw her onto the bed. You said she simply had no choice when it came to having sex and you inserted your penis into her vagina, persisting to the point of ejaculation.
8. The rape reflected in incident 9, being Charge 16 of assault and Charge 17 of rape is aggravated by the fact she was three months' pregnant and told you she was having pains in her abdomen. You ignored her. She had also been working in what is a physically demanding job as an aged carer and was not home until 9 pm.
9. You met her disinclination to have sex by putting a pillow on her face and pressing your thumb into her throat before penetrating her vagina with your penis. You ignored her state of upset and distress and her protests, continuing to penetrate her until you ejaculated.
10. This disregard for the impact of your behaviour on Ms Devi is consistent with not only your comments in your record of interview, where you sought to blame her for the breakdown of your relationship, but also the fact that you repeatedly conveyed to her that any action of yours was her fault. That is not true.
11. Overall, your offending is very serious, and your moral culpability is extremely high.

1. I turn now to your personal circumstances. In assessing them I have had regard to the Psychological Report of Ms Gina Codoni dated 10 November 2025, as well as the submissions of your counsel and a range of testimonials written on your behalf for your plea. I have also had regard to character evidence given at your trial.
2. I note that you have had the support of both of your parents during the course of your trial. They both travelled from Fiji to be here for your trial and clearly remain a support to you. I note also that your current partner, who gave character evidence at your trial, has also been present throughout your plea and remains committed to you. Similarly, a number of friends have attended your plea and are here today.
3. You are now aged 42. You were born and raised in Labasa, Fiji, where you lived in a multigenerational household with your parents, grandparents, and extended family. You are the only son born to your parents, and you have two sisters, aged 40 and 38 who reside in America. Your parents remain together and have returned to Fiji.
4. You say your childhood was a happy one, spent within a large family environment, with regular gatherings and activities. You experienced no early adversity, educational difficulties or behavioural issues.
5. You completed your secondary schooling in Fiji and subsequently obtained a trade certificate in heavy commercial vehicle mechanics in Fiji. This allowed you to secure your first job as a diesel mechanic, which you worked in for seven years before migrating to Australia in 2008.
6. After you arrived in Australia, you rented for a number of years and then, as I have described, you and Ms Devi married in 2010 and you built the home in Cranbourne East where you moved in 2014.
7. You became an Australian citizen in 2016.
8. You have a very solid work history. Since your migration to Australia you have been continuously employed in the same trade and have worked in waste management with JJ Richards for 11 years. You regularly send part of your income to your parents in Fiji.
9. In 2017 your son Kamal was born. He is your only child. You and Sereana maintained shared custody of him after your separation by agreement. The importance of his relationship with you is not lost on Sereana Devi and she has consented to him continuing to see you in custody and for you to continue contact with him. A full family violence intervention order is in place for her protection, but at her request Kamal is not covered by that order. He is now eight years old.
10. You describe your son as the most important part of your life and your relationship with him offers you a clear emotional anchor as well as a source of long-standing source of responsibility that you identified to Ms Cidoni as central to your identity. I accept that that relationship functions as a protective factor against any future offending. No doubt it will motivate you.
11. The reference material variously speaks of your close and loving attachment to Kamal and of his loving attachment to you.
12. Vanesh Manel,[19] who has known you approximately seven years through his wife's family, describes you as 'a devoted father who appeared deeply committed to his young son's welfare and future. In our conversations, although we only touched briefly on his legal situation, I sensed a man trying to do his best given his predicament and supporting his son and family to the best of his ability.'
13. Ms Jasminda Walay,[20] a Registered Nurse who has known you for 21 years says, 'Over the years, I have seen that he had a close and caring bond with his child. Since his time in custody, I have felt concerned for the wellbeing of his son, as the separation must be very difficult for him. I mention this only to highlight the important role I have seen Ravinesh play in his child's life.'
14. Mandeep Suram,[21] a Chartered Professional Engineer who has known you for six years through the church community says, you have been part of their gatherings and events and 'similarly, we have been part of events and functions at Ravinesh's place of residence, and in particular, are events related to his son, Kamal's birthdays, in which he used to take tremendous and particular pride in hosting and celebrating. I have joined both Ravinesh and Kamal during Kamal's football trainings and matches while with Ravinesh (which Kamal only attends with his dad). Ravinesh also takes immense pride in the religious and cultural undertakings of Sanatan Dharam (Hinduism) and has recently bought a pair of table-Indian cultural drums for Kamal to learn music and religious hymns.'
15. It is clear that you have a close and loving relationship with your son and it is equally clear that you feel very deeply about the separation from him which will occur during your period of incarceration. I accept that will weigh heavily on you. You report significant distress since being unable to see him. It is a matter I take into account. Your time in custody will span some of his most formative years and no doubt he will be a very different young person by the time of your release.
16. I also take into account you are very active in your local Fijian Indian community and a large number of the references attest to that fact. You perform as a lead singer and rim player in a band at cultural events.
17. They are an impressive bundle of references. They speak with one voice about your solid involvement in your church and the local Fijian Indian community, and of the time you have given to music, of your time spent volunteering with old and young people alike. They speak of you as a person who is kind and respectful.
18. I also take in account your current relationship with your partner. That relationship as I understand it started in mid-2023 and you moved in together in September 2024. Your current partner lives in the home that you built in East Cranbourne and she has two adult children from a previous relationship who are independent from you. She gave evidence at your trial regarding the nature of your relationship with her and of your treatment of her. She described you as a very nice person for her. She says, 'He has never abused me, he has never demanded anything from me. I have just seen his loyalty in all these things and he has never done anything wrong'.
19. I take into account that you have no relevant prior criminal history. The prosecution did not rely on the driving matter from 2011. You did breach the intervention order by contacting Ms Devi after 2015, but I was not urged to take that into account.
20. Your previous good character is in contrast to the offending against Ms Devi. No doubt to the people who have taken time to write references on your behalf, that behaviour is in stark contrast to the person they know. It is to your credit that each of the people called about your character at trial, and each person who took the time to write character references for your plea, did so knowing of the serious offending for which you have now been found guilty. They did so confirming their disapproval of any such offending and attesting simply to the man they know. As I said, they are an impressive bundle of references. Each person has gone into great detail about you and I have taken those matters into account.
21. I take your previous good character outside your marriage into account.
22. I also take into account that you have not reoffended since the last incident on the indictment, which is from 2018. That is a period of seven years.
23. I note, as I have said, that for at least a year and a half, you have been in intimate relationship with your current partner. As Ms Cidoni described, that is a healthy and positive relationship.
24. I accept that your time in custody, away from her, from your child, and your family and community will be difficult. There will be limitations to the amount of visits I expect you are able to have with your child. You have recently been held at Fulham, and although you are positive about that location, it is a distance from Melbourne.
25. To your credit, and despite being a remand prisoner, you have already completed a number of courses in custody. I have received a number of certificates in that regard from Kangan Institute. They relate to certificates in engineering and civil construction, in OHS, and in cooking.
26. Imprisonment is obviously proving difficult and isolating for you. According to Ms Cidoni your experience of custody 'is shaped by the stress-related symptoms that were already present before [your] remand and by [what she describes as your] long-standing tendency to internalise distress rather than seek support. [She says you have] disrupted sleep, intrusive worry, and physiological tension recorded in [your] medical history and that those matters have persisted in custody and appear to have intensified due to isolation from family, uncertainty about sentencing, and the absence of your normal routines.'
27. She further opines that your 'coping style, which relies heavily on work, routine, and maintaining personal control, is significantly constrained in custody, reducing [your] ability to stabilise [you]self during periods of heightened emotional strain. The stressors of imprisonment create [what she says is] a continuing risk of deterioration.'
28. It was not suggested by Mr Rofe that this meets a Verdins[22] level however on your behalf he submitted that I can take into account Ms Cidoni's findings generally as evidence of the increased hardship you will experience in custody. I accept that is the case.

1. You pleaded not guilty to this offending and opted to run a trial, as is your right. That fact does not aggravate the offending or your personal circumstances. However, it means you do not receive the benefits which flow from a plea of guilty in recognition of its utilitarian benefit or as an expression of remorse. Ms Devi was required to give evidence both at the committal, the s198 hearing, and at a jury trial.
2. You not only continue to deny the offending following the jury finding you guilty but maintain that you were the victim in this relationship. That is indicative of your lack of insight and lack of any remorse for your offending.
3. Your comments to Ms Cidoni regarding your relationship with Ms Devi highlight your lack of accountability and taking of responsibility. They do not bear repeating.

1. Those matters factor into the need for specific deterrence and to my consideration of your prospects of rehabilitation. Remorse and insight are usually markers towards positive prospects of rehabilitation. Neither are present here.
2. Whilst you have strong employment prospects, as well as support from your family and friends, your continual denial of and lack of insight into your behaviours limits your positive prospects of rehabilitation.
3. Despite the character material and your lack of prior criminal history, and despite your positive behaviour in your current relationship, I am mindful that this offending was repetitive and occurred over many years. For that reason, and given your lack of remorse, in my view your prospects of rehabilitation are modest.

1. I have had regard to current sentencing practices for this type of offending. To that end I was assisted by counsel referring me to a number of cases.[23] I have also considered a number of those summarised on the Judicial College of Victoria website, both from this court and the Court of Appeal.
2. In looking at any other sentence, there are always similarities and differences between the offender and the offending. The nature of this type of violence and sexual offending can vary widely both in its circumstances, in terms of the broader nature of the relationship, in terms of the time frame and the personal circumstances of victim and offender.
3. Ultimately, I am required to impose a just sentence in all the circumstances and that is what I have endeavoured to do.

1. I take into account the principle of totality. That principle means I must determine the appropriate sentence for each charge, and the appropriate amount of cumulation required before standing back and determining whether the overall sentence is appropriate and not disproportionate.[24]
2. I accept, particularly as a first-time offender, that any sentence must not be crushing. You are a man now aged 42 and will have a lot of life after this prison term. Totality has had a significant impact on my consideration of whether to impose cumulation and if so the amount of that cumulation.

1. The Serious Sexual Offender provisions contained in Part 2A of the Sentencing Act 1991 are applicable in your case. When I sentence you to a term of imprisonment on each of Charges 11 and 14 of rape, then you are to be sentenced as a serious sexual offender in relation to the Charge 17 of rape[25].
2. In those circumstances Parliament dictates that I am to consider the protection of the community as the principal purpose of sentencing, and cumulation rather than concurrency is presumed to achieve that end.[26]
3. Those provisions do not eradicate the need for me to give consideration to principles of either proportionality or totality, although they may be moderated to an extent.[27] The prosecution here did not submit that a disproportionate sentence should be imposed.[28]
4. In considering the appropriate amount of cumulation, as I have indicated, I have reflected the fact that there are in some instances a number of offences committed in a single incident and for that reason cumulation will also be moderated.
5. In my view the rape charge in Charge 14 is the most serious offence here for the reasons I have already outlined namely the context in which it was committed, the presence of a knife, and the protracted and demeaning nature of that event. In my view it reflects an escalation of offending and your attitude and control over Ms Devi. It will be the base sentence.
6. Each rape will be reflected by an amount of cumulation as will a number of the other charges.

1. Mr Pratap, the sentences I impose are as follows:
2. On Charge 1 of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.
3. On Charge of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
4. On Charge 3 of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to three years' imprisonment.
5. On Charge 4 of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
6. On Charge 5 of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to two years and three months' imprisonment.
7. On Charge 6 of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
8. On Charge 7 of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
9. On Charge 8 of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
10. On Charge 9 of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment.
11. On Charge 10 of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to three years and three months' imprisonment.
12. On Charge 11 of rape, you are convicted and sentenced to eight years and six months' imprisonment.
13. On Charge 12 of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to three years and four months' imprisonment.
14. On Charge 13 of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to three years and six months' imprisonment.
15. On Charge 14 of rape, you are convicted and sentenced to 10 years and six months' imprisonment. That will be the base sentence.
16. On Charge 15 of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to three years' imprisonment.
17. On Charge 16 of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to three years and six months' imprisonment.
18. On Charge 17 of rape, you are convicted and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment.
19. On Charge 18 of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to three years and eight months' imprisonment.
20. On Charge 19 of assault, you are convicted and sentenced to four years' imprisonment.
21. I make the following orders for cumulation on the base sentence, which is the sentence of 10 years and six months on Charge 14. Eight months of Charge 3; two months of Charge 8; 12 months of Charge 11; four months of Charge 13; two months of Charge 15; 18 months of Charge 17; three months of Charge 18; and four months of Charge 19 are to be served cumulatively upon each other and upon the base sentence.
22. The total effective sentence therefore is one of 14 years and 11 months' imprisonment.
23. I direct that you are to serve a minimum term of 10 years' imprisonment before becoming eligible for parole.
24. I declare that you have already served 77 days of pre-sentence detention and that that period should be reckoned as having been served under this sentence.
25. I declare that in relation to Charge 17, you are sentenced as a serious sexual offender and that that fact should be reflected in the orders of the court.
26. Are there any matters to raise, counsel?
27. MR ROFE: I am just going to have to calculate.
28. HER HONOUR: Of course.
29. MR ROFE: Apologies, Your Honour.
30. HER HONOUR: That's all right.
31. MR ROFE: Eight months' cumulation on Charge 3.
32. HER HONOUR: Correct.
33. MR ROFE: And then two months - - -
34. HER HONOUR: On Charge 8.
35. MR ROFE: Yes, Charge 8.
36. HER HONOUR: Yes. Do you want me to go through them?
37. MR ROFE: Yes please, sorry.
38. HER HONOUR: Two months on Charge 8; 12 months on Charge 11; four months on Charge 13; two months on Charge 15; 18 months on Charge 17; three months on Charge 18; and four months on Charge 19.
39. MR ROFE: Thank you. Yes, I agree with that, it's all correct.
40. MR HOTCHKIN: I'll just be one moment, Your Honour.
41. HER HONOUR: That's fine, take your time. I am happy to adjourn and you can have another look at them, I will wait, if there is any need to come back.
42. MR HOTCHKIN: That's right, Your Honour.
43. HER HONOUR: All right, thanks very much.
44. Mr Rofe, I will ask my associates to give you a moment with Mr Pratap on the link before they turn that off.
45. MR ROFE: Thank you, Your Honour.
46. HER HONOUR: Thanks very much counsel for your assistance, thank you.

[13] Pasinis v The Queen [2014] VSCA 97 at [57].

[14] Kalala v The Queen [2017] VSCA 223 at [59].

[15] Director of Public Prosecutions v Patil (a pseudonym) [2020] VSCA 337; Johns (a pseudonym) v The Queen [2016] VSCA 97.

[16] Jurj v The Queen [2016] VSCA 57.

[17] DPP v Avalos (a pseudonym) [2023] VSCA 117.

[18] DPP v Mokhtari [2020] VSCA 161; Director of Public Prosecutions v Patil (a pseudonym) [2020] VSCA 337.

[22] R v Verdins [2007] VSCA 102.

[23] DPP v Mokhtari [2020] VSCA 161; Director of Public Prosecutions v Patil (a pseudonym) [2020] VSCA 337; DPP v Avalos (a pseudonym) [2023] VSCA 117; Barton (a pseudonym) v The King; Director of Public Prosecutions v Barton (a pseudonym) [2025] VSCA 74.

[24] William Reid (a pseudonym) v The Queen [2014] VSCA 1445.

[25] Sentencing Act 1991, s 6B(2)(a).

[26] Sentencing Act 1991, s 6E.

[27] See e.g. Hoare v R [1989] HCA 33; (1989) 167 CLR 348; R v Connell [1996] VicRp 30; [1996] 1 VR 436; Matheas v The Queen [2017] VSCA 330.

[28] R v Connell [1996] VicRp 30; [1996] 1 VR 436.