Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Lenora Qereqeretabua today stood before the Suva Magistrates Court and delivered a firm message to the man who targeted her online.

“Do the crime, do the time,” she said, directing her words at Kishore Kumar, who has been convicted for repeatedly posting explicit and defamatory content about her.

Qereqeretabua said she wanted to look him in the eye and ask what made him believe he could escape the consequences.

She reminded the court that his videos weren’t posted once, they were uploaded multiple times, with clear intent.

Qereqeretabua spoke of the personal cost of the videos.

The attacks, she said, didn’t just damage her – it hurt her daughter, her husband and her parents.

At times, it even made her question her own worth.

Kumar, she states, is part of a larger problem, men who fail to grasp the emotional devastation their online abuse leaves behind – especially when their accusations are false.

Her decision to go to the police, Qereqeretabua said, was not about protecting her political title.

She said it was about speaking up for other women in Fiji who are harassed, shamed and silenced online.

Although she told the court she had forgiven him, Qereqeretabua made it clear that Kumar still had to answer for his actions.

In response, Kumar read from a letter.

He apologized to Qereqeretabua, her family and the Fijian public.

Kumar said he was mentally unstable when he shared the videos, a claim he stated was also backed by a psychiatric assessment at Saint Giles Hospital.

He vowed not to repeat the offence.

The State has called for a heavy sentence, either a $20,000 fine or a five-year prison term for each of the five counts, with a further five years for the sixth.

Debates about who would ensure he sticks to his prescribed medication also ensued in court.

Magistrate Seini Puamau acknowledged Qereqeretabua’s call for a jail sentence and said she would weigh all arguments before handing down her ruling.

Kumar will be sentenced tomorrow at midday.

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