Date:01/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/01/stories/2008050157520100.htm

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Life term for rape of British journalist in Udaipur

Special Correspondent

JAIPUR: A fast track court in Udaipur on Wednesday sentenced a guest house owner to life imprisonment for rape of a 40-year-old British journalist this past December and fined him Rs.25,000 while also convicting him for house-trespass to commit an offence punishable with life in prison.

Parbat Singh, owner of Pardesi Guest House in Ambamata area of Udaipur, criminally assaulted the freelance journalist on the night of December 23 when she asked for an extra blanket. The 32-year-old man forced his way into the room on the pretext of supplying the blanket and raped the woman.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (Fast Track) B. K. Jain convicted Parbat Singh under Sections 376 (rape) and 450 (house-trespass) of the Indian Penal Code and awarded seven years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs.10,000 under the latter. Both the sentences will run concurrently.

Police arrested Parbat Singh on January 9 this year after the journalist sent an e-mail to the British High Commission in New Delhi detailing the incident and seeking its intervention in the matter. The journalist informed the High Commission that she had arrived in Udaipur on December 19 and stayed at the guest house where she was raped.

Prompt completion of probe

A case was registered at the Ambamata police station in Udaipur after the British High Commission took up the matter with the State police and asked for an investigation.

The police completed the probe promptly after arresting the accused and the prosecution filed the charge sheet in the court on January 14. The court heard the prosecution, the defence and 14 witnesses produced by the prosecution before convicting the accused.

The desert State of Rajasthan, which is a popular tourist destination, has witnessed several incidents of rape and molestation of foreign tourists during the past three years. A German tourist was raped by an auto-rickshaw driver and his accomplice in Jodhpur in 2005; the accused were punished within a month in one of the fastest trials in the country.

The rape of a 26-year-old German student at Alwar in March 2006 made headlines as the accused, B.H. Mohanty, was the son of a senior police officer of Orissa cadre.

The convict jumped parole after being sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and is still absconding.