31-year-old Simardeep Singh, a former cab driver in Australia, who raped an 18-year-old girl in 2011 was sentenced to five and a half years in jail earlier in August. But, that was not it, though. This man blamed his Indian upbringing for raping a girl.
Simardeep Singh, who reportedly went to Australia in 2008, has worked as a driver with Swan Taxis in Perth. In January 2011, according to Daily Mail, he picked up a 20-year-old woman as a customer from Northbridge, and asked her inappropriate questions about her sex life and even touched her in an uncomfortable manner. After the woman was dropped home, she reported the matter to the company.
Right after dropping her off at her designated location, he picked up another 18-year-old woman passenger, took her to a park and raped her. The girl reported the matter to the police and filed a rape case against him. But, the police released him without any charge the same day.
Simardeep fled to India the very next day only to be summoned back in 2015 to appear before the court. And what Singh admitted in the court was shocking!
Simardeep blamed his “cultural Sikh upbringing” that led his offending. According to media reports, defence lawyer Shane Adam told the court that Singh was raised in a conservative environment in Punjab, where women who wore short dresses were considered “prostitutes” and there was never any discussion around “sex” among family, peers or even on television. Therefore, the man experienced “culture shock”.
District Court Judge Troy Sweeney reportedly said Singh’s upbringing may have a role to play and he may not have been aware of what Australians consider “fully informed consent”, but that was not an excuse for his behaviour.
Simardeep faces a lenient minimum3 and half years sentence, and then might get deportation and parole.
In India, people have blamed ‘women wearing Western clothes’ for rape, which clearly emphasises the need for sex education at an early age in the country. Rape, like murder and terrorism, does not arise because you were brought up in a particular country or religion. It happens because the person is sick in the head.
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