By Rishav Chatterjee
(Reuters) -The Fiji government on Thursday said police were investigating incidents involving two crew members of Australian airline Virgin Australia who were allegedly victims of rape and theft in Nadi in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
The crew members were in the popular tourist destination on a layover before they were supposed to fly off the following day, Fiji Acting Commissioner of Police Juki Fong Chew said in a statement.
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Virgin, which said it was aware of the alleged incidents, has sent people to Fiji to provide support, but did not provide further details in a statement to Reuters.
Fiji police said the investigation so far had found some Virgin crew members had gone to a nightclub in Nadi.
“Unfortunately, two of the crew members were victims of an alleged theft and rape after exiting the nite club trying to find their way back to the hotel,” Chew said.
Viliame Gavoka, Fiji’s deputy prime minister and minister for tourism and civil aviation, in a statement, clarified that these were two separate incidents of alleged theft and sexual assault which affected two different Virgin crew members.
Gavoka expressed regret over the alleged incidents and said that a suspect known to the police for the alleged sexual assault had been questioned and that the investigation was ongoing.
The South Pacific island nation of Fiji is a popular tourist destination and received 76,845 visitors in November, mostly from Australia, New Zealand and North America, according to the country’s tourism website.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told Reuters it was aware of the reports but declined to comment further.
(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Sameer Manekar; Editing by Jamie Freed and Michael Perry)
