Indian national who groped two women sent to prison

Judge Ronayne sentenced Teja to one year and eight months in prison for both offences to be served concurrently. Photo / Nick Reed

An Indian man living in New Zealand has been sent to prison for pulling down a Japanese woman's bottoms before indecently assaulting her and groping another woman so hard she cried out in pain.

Vijaydeep Teja, 27, pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault after a drunken night in Auckland central which led to him being chased by bystanders, jumping off a balcony and suffering injuries so severe he was taken to hospital.

Originally from India, Teja arrived in the country earlier this year but on March 10 about 10.30pm approached a Japanese woman who was walking home from work along Hobson St while looking at her cellphone.

Teja pushed her on the shoulder, she fell to the ground and he told her: "Want to s*** my d***?"

According to court documents, she said "no" but was too terrified to say anything more.

Teja pulled up her T-shirt, exposing her bra, then pulled down her bottoms and indecently assaulted her. Someone who saw the attack ran over and Teja ran away.

The person chased him and Teja took flight - as he ran he groped another woman, causing her to yell out in pain.

Another person joined the chase and as he was running away, Teja fell. The people told him to stay put but he got up and continued to flee, jumping off a first storey balcony on Nelson St, badly injuring his head and arms. He was taken to hospital.

As Judge Robert Ronayne read from the Japanese woman's victim impact statement, which was translated into Punjab, Teja appeared calm and nodded.

The woman said she had wanted to stay in New Zealand longer, but the assault forced her to leave sooner than she'd wanted and she was now afraid to go outside, even during the day.

However, Teja showed no remorse for his offending, denied it was him, blamed it on the alcohol and tried to blame one of his victims, according to a pre-sentence report.

He also had an "entrenched sense of self entitlement" and wanted the judge to take into account his nationality.

Judge Ronayne refused to do this because it would "create two classes of criminals".

He called Teja's offending "brazen" and chose not to commute a prison sentence to one of community detention because of his high risk of harming others and medium risk of re-offending.

"Once she [the first victim] had told you 'no' . . . you persisted with your attack. This was no fleeting indecency."

Judge Ronayne sentenced Teja to one year and eight months in prison for both offences to be served concurrently.