Chefs get 19 years in jail for rape of schoolgirl

Two Indian chefs were yesterday jailed for a total of 19 years for raping a schoolgirl.

In Christchurch District Court, Kirti Ram, 40, and Manish Kumar Tyagi, 30, who were chefs at the Two Fat Indians restaurant, were jailed for 10 years and nine years respectively.

One Indian woman in court wept during the 90-minute sentencing by Judge Murray Abbott.

The trial last month heard Ram and Tyagi had taken a 17-year-old schoolgirl back to the restaurant and subjected her to sexual indecencies over a three-hour period on January 2 last year.

She made her escape when she was being led to a taxi afterwards.

The men alleged in the trial that the sex had been consensual and had been arranged for payment.

But the jury convicted the men after a trial lasting more than a week.

It convicted Ram on three charges of sexual violation by rape, two of having unlawful sexual connection, one of indecent assault, and two of attempted sexual violation.

It convicted Tyagi on three charges of sexual violation by rape, one of having unlawful sexual connection, one of indecent assault, and one of attempted sexual violation.

In a seven-page report the girl provided the court with a detailed description of the effects of the offending.

Crown prosecutor Pip Currie said the girl had been subjected to a range of humiliating indecencies over a long period.

The offenders showed no remorse and seemed to be blaming the victim and making excuses.

Judge Abbott said he believed drinking alcohol during the day had impaired the men's judgment.

He said other evidence - from the girl's boyfriend, who received distressed phone calls from her during the incident, and from the taxi driver - backed up her story. There was also medical evidence of injuries to her genitals.

He referred to a breach of trust by Ram, whom the girl approached as she was lost in Christchurch after arriving in the city on a bus.

Both men wept at times during the long sentencing, where all of the judge's remarks were translated sentence by sentence into Hindi.

- NZPA