In a shocking incident, an Indian student was charged in the United Kingdom as he carried a "drunken woman" on his shoulder and raped her, taking advantage of her in a vulnerable state. According to South Wales Police, 20-year-old Preet Vikal, a Cardiff University student, raped the woman on June 4, 2022. In a statement released on Saturday, it said that Vikal came across the woman while she was on a night out with friends in Cardiff city centre last year.
"She began to walk home from The Friary area with friends but is later seen on CCTV being carried by Vikal on King Edward VII Avenue and North Road. Vikal continued to carry her to a property in the North Road area where she was raped," it said.
Took advantage of intoxicated state: Police
Detective Constable Nick Woodland, who handled the case, said, "Stranger attacks such as these are extremely unusual in Cardiff but in Preet Vikal we had a dangerous individual. "He took advantage of an intoxicated and vulnerable young woman who became separated from her friends," added Woodland.
As per the police, the accused was identified after extensively checking the CCTV footage of the area. Officers carried out an extensive trawl of CCTV and it was this footage, along with an Instagram message exchange with the victim, that led to Vikal being identified and arrested. The victim bravely provided officers with an account of what happened.
Meanwhile, Vikal was sentenced to six years and nine months in a young offender's institution. He will serve two-thirds of the sentence in custody and the remainder on licence.
