Arabic version: ناجية من الاحتجاز في كانبرا تصف صدمة مستمرة أمام المحكمة

According to ABC News, a woman held captive for four days by a Canberra man in 2024 told an ACT Supreme Court pre-sentence hearing that she endured “psychological and emotional mutilation” and 96 hours of being stripped of her dignity and livelihood.

Sisituutuumata Fulivai, 47, was found guilty earlier in 2026 of 20 charges, including forcible confinement, rape and assault. The offending occurred at a Lyneham home in June 2024. The woman, then 24, escaped the property and ran naked and screaming onto the street, where police found her.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, she said the violence had severed her connection to the person she was before the ordeal. She said she had been left with crippling PTSD, panic attacks and recurring nightmares, telling Fulivai he had taken “a machete” to her mind and sense of safety.

The woman’s mother said the family had been forced to grieve for a once “vibrant girl” who was now a shell of her former self. While she was speaking, Fulivai attempted to interject but was silenced by Justice Belinda Baker.

Prosecutor Nathan Deakes said Fulivai had shown no remorse and had sought to blame the victim and portray her as the aggressor. He said the offending was driven by power, control and sexual jealousy, and noted the woman suffered more than 50 separate injuries. Defence barrister Christina Muthurajah said Fulivai had no criminal history until 2023, when his life took “a sharp turn” after he lost his employment, business and home. Fulivai will be sentenced at a later date.