Ramkrishan Upadhyay
Chandigarh, December 14
The convict by his deplorable act has tarnished the image of the country wherein guests are revered as god and treated with respect and warm hospitality. Making this observation, Swati Sehgal, Judge, Fast Track Special Court, Chandigarh, today sentenced a 38-year-old man, Baldev Singh, a resident of Kharajpur village, Patiala, to undergo 20 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for raping a US woman.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 41,000 on the convict. The court has recommended to the District Legal Services Authority, Chandigarh, to grant the compensation to the woman under the victim compensation scheme within two months.
The US national, who visited India, was allegedly raped by the accused and his friend in Kharar in April 2015. The victim filed the complaint from the US through an e-mail to the UT police in August 2015. The accused was arrested in 2017, while his accomplice is still at large.
The victim appeared before the court through videoconferencing. After hearing the arguments, the court said the version of the victim was convincing and corroborated by the oral, documentary and electronic evidence on record.
During the arguments on the quantum of sentence, the accused sought for leniency, saying he has an aged ailing mother and a seven-month-old daughter to look after. However, the court rejected his plea saying “the victim, a foreign national tourist on Indian soil, instead of experiencing hospitality and affection, underwent the horrifying experience of being kidnapped, raped and robbed at the hand of the convict. The commission of a series of heinous offences by the convict with the victim calls for stringent punishment.”
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