A university student has been caged after carrying a drunk woman to his halls of residence after a night out and raping her while she was passed out.
Preet Vikal, 20, met the victim in Cardiff city centre on the night of June 3 last year after she enjoyed an evening drinking with pals. The engineering student, originally from Dehli, India, raped his victim without protection and took a "trophy photograph" of her lying on his bed while she was asleep.
Prosecutor Matthew Cobbe told Cardiff Crown Court that Vikal and the victim did not know each other and went out with separate groups of friends on the night of the rape. The victim said she could recall "snippets" of her night in Live Lounge after starting drinking at home before going to a bar on Mill Lane.
Cobbe said: "The victim had drunk to excess and by the end of the night was, plainly, hopelessly intoxicated."
Vikal and the victim did not know each other but another clubber told court that she sat her down and gave her water as she was unable to stand. The clubber also used her phone to text the victim's pals to say she was in a bad way and should not be left alone.
After leaving the Live Lounge with friends she came across Vikal, who had also being drinking in the same venue, who walked with victim's group of pals. The pair moved far ahead of the group before he picked her up and carried her at around 4am to his accommodation.
CCTV images played in court showed Vikal carrying her across his shoulders and then passing the Blackweir bar where she was leaning on him.
Vikal brought the victim to his room at Talybont and took a snap of her on his bed. Although the victim was not naked, the picture was revealing. The victim had no recollection of the rape but she remembered waking naked next to Vikal in his bed. She did not know where she was or who she was with.
Cobbe told court: "She was bleeding..... She found her clothes folded, got out of bed and got dressed. The victim asked for the defendant's Instagram address and once she left, she messaged him asking him if they had had sex, and if so, whether they had used protection. The answer she had was that yes, they had, but they had not used protection."
Following the night out Vikal sent the picture to his pals and told them he had "forgotten" to use a condom. Later that day the victim reported Vikal to cops and he was then arrested.
In a statement to police he claimed the victim was a "willing participant". Cobbe said it was obvious the victim was too drunk to consent to sex. Vikal pleaded not guilty, however he admitted rape on the day of the trial.
The victim attended court for Vikal's sentencing and read a powerful statement. She said she was left shaken and unable to sleep after she saw the picture Vikal had taken of her.
She added: "It was really difficult to pretend I was okay when I wasn't. I now have a boyfriend and every little thing had to be discussed... Even little things like putting his hand on my leg. Even though I would want him to, I would recoil and wouldn't be ready to."
Louise Sweet, mitigating, said her client was "a real shining star". She added: "Coming from a village north of Delhi, he is a young man who worked extremely hard, so much so he won a scholarship to support his study in engineering. He was the first of his family to go to university, the first of his village to go overseas and study. He was fulfilling his dreams to come here, and those of his parents."
Sweet said Vikal was "not a very experienced young man" and that he "hadn't had a real girlfriend at all". She added that he had gone out drinking after his last exam and the "relief" led him to drink more than usual.
She read a letter from her client: "I write this letter to express my deepest apology for the pain and suffering I have caused [the victim]. I understand my actions were wrong and may have a significant impact on her life. In the last six months I have reflected deeply on my actions... Words can't undo the damage I have done but I hope my apology can be the first step towards healing and forgiveness."
Sweet told the court: "This was not a predatory offence at all, but a chance meeting of two young people who were both heavily intoxicated...The court has seen the amount of alcohol he drank. He left himself incapable of assessing her abilities [to consent]."
The barrister asked the judge to pass as lenient a sentence as possible, pointing out that her client had experienced bullying while remanded in custody, "some of it racially motivated". She said he would feel deep shame when he "finally goes home and faces the rest of his village".
Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke acknowledged Vikal's remorse and that his behaviour was out of character but said his use of alcohol that night was an aggravating factor, rather than one that would reduce his sentence. She sent Vikal to a young offenders institution for six years and nine months. He will serve two thirds of the sentence in custody and the remainder on licence. WalesOnline has asked police for a photograph of the defendant.
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