Man who raped Spanish woman in Mumbai gets life term

A 28-year-old serial house breaker was on Friday sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Mumbai for raping a Spanish woman on knife point in suburban Bandra last year.

"The court has to keep in mind the interest of the society at large and the case does not have any ground for leniency," observed Principal Judge Shalini Phansalkar Joshi while pronouncing the sentence to accused Mohammed Badshah Ansari, who was convicted on charges of rape, unnatural offence, trespass, criminal intimidation and destruction of evidence.

In November 2012, Ansari forcibly entered the 28-year-old musician's flat through a window and at knife point allegedly robbed and raped her. The victim was staying as a tenant on the third floor of a building at Perry Cross Road in Bandra.

Before the sentencing, Badshah told the court that he had been implicated in the case and sought leniency citing that he has a mother, wife and two children dependent on him.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam argued that the ground of leniency should not be taken into consideration as the accused was mature enough while committing the crime and that age could not be the only determinant in arriving at the sentence.

Nikam further said that Badshah had a strong criminal antecedent and he was a habitual robber.

After sexually abusing the Spanish national, Badshah had told her "Ab tum khatam" (you are finished).

The Public Prosecutor also told the court that Badshah enjoyed torturing the victim and a reformatory approach will not curb his perverse ways.

"He put the defenceless, poor, helpless girl in such a situation that she refused to come back to India to even depose in the case. She left India with a bad impression; it is question of the image of the nation," Nikam argued.

The victim had deposed in the court via video link from Germany.