According to the BBC, he admitted rape and was sentenced to six years and nine months in a young offenders' institute.
Digital
Desk: CCTV film has gone viral of an Indian student
carrying an "intoxicated" woman in his arms to his room before
raping her. According to The Daily Mail, Preet Vikal, 20, reportedly snapped a
'trophy shot' of the girl in his bed before attacking her.
According to the BBC, he admitted rape and was sentenced to six
years and nine months in a young offenders' institute.
According to accounts, the
engineering student dragged the girl to his dorm after meeting her outside a
Cardiff club in June last year. According to the court, Preet Vikal approached
the "hopelessly intoxicated" woman outside a music club in the Welsh
capital and took advantage of her vulnerable state.
According to Prosecutor Matthew Cobbe, Vikal and the victim went
out with separate groups of companions.
At around 4 a.m., Preet was seen carrying the victim in his arms
and later across his shoulders, according to CCTV evidence shown in court.
According to the footage, he then placed her on the ground and raised her to
her feet. The victim was walking but leaning heavily on Vikal as they passed
the Blackweir pub.
"She was in pain. She
got out of bed, folded her clothes, and dressed. "The victim asked for the
defendant's Instagram address, and after she left, she messaged him, asking if
they had sex, and if so, whether they used protection," said prosecutor
Matthew Cobbe.
"The answer she had was that, yes, they had, but they had not
used protection."
The court heard that Vikal later that day shared the picture to a
friend and indicated in the chat that he had "forgotten" to use a
condom.
After realising what had happened, the woman contacted the police,
and Preet was arrested the same day. He read a prepared statement in which he
claimed the victim was a "willing participant."
The prosecutor stated that it was obvious that the victim was too
inebriated to consent to sex. However, Vikal initially pled not guilty before
finally admitting the rape on the day of the trial.
According to The Daily
Mail, mitigating attorney Louise Sweet described her client as a "true
shining star."
"He is a young man from a village north of Delhi who worked
extremely hard, so much so that he won a scholarship to support his engineering
studies." He was the first in his family to attend university, and the
first in his village to study abroad. "He was fulfilling his own and his
parents' dreams by coming here," Louise Sweet explained.
South Wales Police
Detective Constable Nick Woodland told the BBC: "Stranger attacks like
these are extremely rare in Cardiff, but in Preet Vikal, we had a dangerous
individual."He preyed on an inebriated and vulnerable young woman who had
become isolated from her friends."
According to authorities, Vikal was located and arrested after a
"extensive" search of CCTV footage. Vikal will serve two-thirds of
his sentence in prison and the rest on probation.
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