- ‘Naked, screaming woman’ was found on the streets of Canberra, police said
- Business owner Sisituutuumata Fulivai, 44, was charged with rape and confinement
- Daily Mail Australia can reveal details about the case for the first time
A young woman who claims she was locked up and raped in a Canberra home for four days has told police she was only able to escape because she fought her alleged kidnapper and ran away.
The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was found by a police patrol car at 7pm on Monday after police allegedly saw her running naked and screaming from the suburban home on Fairweather Circuit in Lyneham.
She told officers she had allegedly been held at the home for four days and repeatedly sexually assaulted.
Later that evening, police arrested Sisituutuumata Fulivai, 44, and charged him with forcible confinement, sexual intercourse without consent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Daily Mail Australia can now reveal the woman allegedly at the center of the ordeal returned to the house with a friend on Wednesday to find the police tape had been removed and it was no longer an active crime scene.
Police arrested Sisituutuumata Fulivai (right) and charged him with forcible confinement, sexual intercourse without consent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm
Pictured: the house where a woman was allegedly held captive and raped for four days. There were garbage bags and day old chicks at the front door (circled)
The woman claimed she “needed to get out.”
“I had to… and then I ran,” she said.
Fulivai did not own the property but appeared to have access to the house while his relative, who normally lived there, was away.
The case against Fulivai has yet to be tried in court.
The house was littered with debris Wednesday, with trash and bags of day-old barbecue chicken near the front door.
Neighbors described the area as ‘close-knit’ and ‘community-oriented’ and were shocked by the alleged attack.
Sharon, whose elderly mother lives next door to the alleged crime scene, said she had gone out several times in the past week and heard nothing.
The house was strewn with rubble on Wednesday (photo)
“I come here to take care of my mother and there was no sign of anything going on in the area at all,” she said.
“(The allegations) have shocked everyone because it’s normally such a nice community.”
Social media posts indicate that Fulivai is a car and rugby enthusiast who used to run a custom printing business.
Records show that the printing company went bankrupt in 2022.
Fulivai appeared in the ACT Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, wearing a brown towel around his waist and gray sweatpants tucked into white socks, and without shoes.
Prosecutors said the charges were not related to domestic violence.
He has not applied for bail and will be remanded in custody until his case goes to trial in July.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redressal Support Service 1800 211 028
Neighbors described the area as ‘close-knit’ and ‘community-oriented’ and were shocked by the alleged attack