An Indian taxi driver has been sentenced to six years in jail with a non-parole period of four years, for raping a minor last year in Australia.
County Court Judge Wendy Wilmoth said Nitin Rana, 30, was found guilty by a jury on three counts of rape, The Age reported on Friday.
The judge said Rana preyed on the teenager when she was in an intoxicated state on Nov. 4 of last year. The teen could not sit up straight in the taxi or even fasten her seat belt, the Australian court stated.
After drinking vodka at a friend's house, the teenage girl was later dropped at a railway station in Melbourne's east at about 1 a.m. by a male friend. She hadn't realized that she would be stranded, The Age reported.
The teenager could not get home as trains had stopped running for the night. Also, she did not have money and could not give her home address. According to The Age, a group of good Samaritans gave Rana some money to take her home after finding her address on a card in her bag.
"The public is entitled to expect to be safe in taxis," Judge Wilmoth was quoted telling Rana. "Parents should be able to trust their teenage children will be safe in taxis."
Rana raped her before dropping her home. The teenager told her mother the next day that she was sexually assaulted by the taxi driver.
Rana, who belongs to a middle class family in Hyderabad, has a commerce degree. Before arriving in Australia in 2008, he also worked in several multinational companies in India where he completed a diploma course in hospitality and management.
He was driving a taxi in Australia for some time to support himself and to save money to return to India, The Age reported.
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