London
\nAn Indian student seen on surveillance footage carrying an \u201cintoxicated\u201d woman to his residence has been sentenced for rape in the United Kingdom, the British media reported.
\nPreet Vikal, a 20-year-old Indian student in Cardiff, was sentenced to six years and nine months in a young offenders\u2019 institution, officials said on June 16.
\nAccording to South Wales police officials, he has been sentenced for raping a drunk and semi-conscious woman he had met in a club last year.
\nThe Independent reported that Vikal was seen in CCTV footage shared by the police, carrying the \u201cintoxicated\u201d woman through Cardiff city centre in June last year.
\nThe South Wales police said in a statement that he met the woman while she was on a night out with friends.
\nPolice officials said the victim was initially with company, after which she \u201cbecame separated from her friends\u201d and was \u201clater seen on CCTV being carried by Vikal\u201d.
\nThe police statement said Vikal, an engineering student, admitted to the rape during the early hours of June 4, 2022.
\n\u201cEnquiries revealed inconsistencies with the accounts provided by the defendant, and it was this, along with the continued bravery of the victim, that ultimately led to him pleading guilty,\u201d South Wales police detective, constable Nick Woodland said.
\nHe will now serve two-thirds of the sentence in custody and the remainder on licence, police said.
\n\u201cThe victim had drunk to excess and by the end of the night was, plainly, hopelessly intoxicated,\u201d prosecutor Matthew Cobbe told the Daily Mail.
\n\u201cStranger attacks such as these are extremely unusual in Cardiff but in Vikal we had a dangerous individual,\u201d Woodland said.
\n\u201cHe took advantage of an intoxicated and vulnerable young woman who became separated from her friends.\u201d
\nVikal is from a village in north Delhi and had won an engineering scholarship, said Louise Sweet, Vikal\u2019s advocate.
\n\u201cHe was the first of his family to go to a university, the first of his village to go overseas and study. He was fulfiling his dreams to come here and those of his parents,\u201d she told the Daily Mail.
\nAn \u201cextensive\u201d search of CCTV footage and \u201can Instagram message exchange with the victim\u201d led to Vikal\u2019s identification and arrest, the police statement said.
\n\u201cCCTV showed Vikal carrying the victim in his arms and later across his shoulders out of the city centre,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
London An Indian student seen on surveillance footage carrying an \u201cintoxicated\u201d woman to his residence has been sentenced for rape in the United Kingdom, the British media reported. Preet Vikal, a 20-year-old Indian student in Cardiff, was sentenced to six years and nine months in a young offenders\u2019 institution, officials said on June 16. According […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-338789","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n