UK court sentences Indian student caught on CCTV carrying woman home to rape her

London: A 20-year-old Indian student, who was captured on CCTV carrying a woman home with the intention of raping her last June, has been sentenced by a UK court for more than six years, police said.

According to the South Wales Police, Preet Vikal was captured on surveillance footage carrying an "intoxicated" woman along King Edward VII Avenue and North Road.

On Friday, authorities revealed that he continued to carry the victim to a property in the North Road area, where he raped her during the early hours of June 4, 2022.

Vikal had met the woman while she was out with friends in the city on June 3. He pleaded guilty to the charge of rape and was subsequently sentenced to six years and nine months in a young offenders' institution.

Detective Constable Nick Woodland of the South Wales Police commented on the case, stating, "Stranger attacks of this nature are exceedingly rare in Cardiff, but in Preet Vikal, we had a dangerous individual. He exploited an inebriated and vulnerable young woman who became separated from her friends."

Extensive analysis of CCTV footage, along with an Instagram message exchange between Vikal and the victim, played a pivotal role in his identification and subsequent arrest.

Vikal will serve two-thirds of the sentence in custody, with the remaining portion under license.

During Vikal's sentencing, the victim delivered a statement, revealing that she refrained from going on nights out for five months following the rape. "It was incredibly challenging to pretend that I was fine when I really wasn't," the victim expressed, as quoted by The Sun.

The report in The Sun additionally stated that Vikal took a "trophy photograph" of the victim on his bed. The victim recollected waking up naked beside Vikal but was unaware of her location or the fact that she had been sexually assaulted.

The victim reported the incident to the police on the same day, leading to Vikal's subsequent arrest.

Detective Constable Woodland expressed hope that the sentencing would offer some closure to the victim, enabling her to regain confidence and move forward with her life.

With inputs from agencies

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