An Indian national has been sentenced to a maximum five years and six months on Wednesday this week, and the County Court of Victoria has told SBS Punjabi that there is a non-parole period of three years and four months.
Manpreet Singh, who had pleaded guilty to raping a young nurse earlier this year, was fraudulently using a friend’s Uber account at the time of the incident, the court heard.
The 28-year-old approached the woman when she stopped to vomit in the alcove of a building in Melbourne’s inner suburb of Richmond, following a Christmas party in late 2018. She had been drinking with her friends at the Swan Hotel before she started walking home along Church Street around 2 am, the court heard.
CCTV footage showed the woman refused his advances and walked away, but Mr Singh got into his car and followed her for a short distance, before eventually getting her into his car.
Prosecutor Hilary Bonney told the court that the victim was “intoxicated” and in a “highly distressed state” when Mr Singh drove her to his house and raped her, reported Herald Sun.
She had “no recollection” of the next few hours until she woke up at around 5 am to find Singh raping her. She managed to run from his house and call the police, the court heard.
Mr Singh was arrested the following day.
Mr Singh who had moved to Australia in 2009 was on a bridging visa at the time of the incident.
He will most likely be deported to India after the completion of his sentence.
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