A sessions court here on Friday convicted Mohammed Badshah Ansari of raping a Spanish national at her suburban residence last year and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
The 28-year-old woman, of Spanish and of German parentage, was raped and robbed of money and valuables at knife-point on the night of November 4, 2012 by Ansari, who trespassed into her rented apartment when her roommate was out of town.
A habitual thief, Ansari entered her third-floor apartment through the window, scaling the building by the water pipeline, and raped her twice. To evade arrest, Ansari cleaned up the scene, asked the victim to wash herself and even picked up butts of cigarettes he had smoked. But she locked herself up in the bathroom and raised an alarm. Ansari, who fled the scene, was arrested within 48 hours.
The woman, who left the country after the incident, made her deposition through videoconferencing during the trial. The prosecution heavily relied on forensic and circumstantial evidence.
The court awarded Ansari life sentence for rape, 10-year imprisonment for theft and one-year jail for threatening the victim.
The sentences will run concurrently. He was also fined Rs.9,500.
