Indian man confesses raping varsity student in Australia

Singh dragged the victim into his windowless van,tied her hands and threatened her with dire consequences at knifepoint,the Victorian County Court heard today.

During the attack that occurred in June last year,he also punched the victim,who had been walking home from Springvale station in Melbourne’s east,and grabbed her around throat.

He drove the van for a few minutes before stopping and raping the student,the report said.

Singh was arrested at Melbourne Airport with a one-way ticket to India two days after being interviewed by police about the attack.

Describing the attack “abhorrent”,Prosecutor Ray Gibson said,”It is every woman’s nightmare or person’s nightmare to be alone at night,dragged off the street,taken from behind.

.. locked in a windowless van and raped.”

Gibson said the victim,who like Singh was a foreign national ,received two black eyes and bruising and abrasions to her back,hands and legs.

He said the attack was in the “very,very serious category” and said Singh should be jailed for between 12 and 14-and-a-half years with a non-parole period of at least nine years.

Singh’s barrister Paul Higham conceded the offending was serious and that there were aggravating features. He said his client had gone for a drive in the van,which he had borrowed to move house,because his wife and mother were arguing.

Higham said his client’s life had been dominated by others. “What he has done is see this woman and use her as a vehicle for the re-imposition of control,” he said.

Psychologist Patrick Newton told the court Singh became aroused as the victim refused him and he exerted control over her. Newton said Singh understood that he had a very negative impact on the victim.

Singh,of Springvale,had been living in Melbourne with his wife who was a student. He is likely to be deported when his sentence ends,the court heard.