Fijian childcare worker allowed to leave Australia before rape trial
A man charged with raping a four-year-old girl in Queensland has left Australia for Fiji before his trial, prompting questions about cross-border controls and extradition.
A Fijian childcare worker accused of raping a four-year-old girl has been allowed to leave Australia before facing trial.
Arvind Ajay Singh, 39, was charged by Queensland Police in 2022 with one count of raping a girl in his care at a Sunshine Coast childcare centre. He was remanded in custody before being granted bail in April 2023, when he surrendered his passport after being committed to stand trial at Maroochydore District Court.
But repeated court delays stalled the case — and in May this year Singh was found by Australian Border Force and placed in immigration detention in a Brisbane apartment as an 'illegal non-citizen.' Despite bail conditions banning him from entering an airport or attempting to leave the country, Singh was somehow able to recover his passport and in July was permitted to voluntarily fly back to Fiji, A Current Affair revealed. Then in August, Singh failed to appear at Maroochydore District Court. His departure has left the trial in limbo, with prosecutors now needing to seek extradition orders.
The victim’s parents told A Current Affair they feel betrayed by the justice system. "I don’t understand how the whole system could fail a four-year-old little girl," the girl's father said. The victim’s mother added, "No other family or child should be put through this. Organisations are not communicating with each other. It’s fallen down at every step. How can immigration make a decision on somebody who is on a rape charge? How do they get to walk out of this country free?"
Home Affairs has declined to comment on individual cases, citing privacy reasons. Minister Tony Burke also did not comment on the case. A government source told Nine Newspapers that Home Affairs blamed Queensland Police for not applying for a criminal justice visa to keep Singh here, a claim police dispute. Queensland Police said it remains committed to holding charged individuals accountable and will explore all avenues, including extradition, to facilitate the process if appropriate.
Singh worked at AplleBerries daycare in Queensland, the site of the alleged crime. The case returns to Maroochydore District Court on Friday for a pre-trial hearing. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has said that if the defendant fails to return to Australia for the trial, it would seek a warrant for extradition. The developments have prompted renewed scrutiny of how immigration and policing agencies coordinate with prosecutors when a charged suspect leaves the country before a case proceeds.