“You said he was ‘a bit touchy-feely’"
Sudesh Kumar, aged 41, of Allestree, Derby, was jailed for eight years after he raped a young woman in his van.
Derby Crown Court heard that on August 3, 2018, the woman and her friends spent the afternoon and evening drinking at the Pear Tree Inn, in Derby, where Kumar worked as a pub manager.
Afterwards, the woman, Kumar and others went to a house party in Sunny Hill.
At around 4 am, Kumar, known as Bobby by many, offered to give the woman a lift home.
She accepted the lift and while on the way to her home, Kumar took advantage of her vulnerable state and raped her.
Jonathon Dee, prosecuting, said the victim could not remember the incident due to the amount of alcohol she had drunk.
One witness saw Kumar offer to take the victim home and the last time she had seen the victim was when she left in his vehicle.
The victim said the last thing she remembered was playing with the dogs belonging to the party host, before waking up in her home the next morning.
She felt something was wrong and told her mother, who subsequently called the police.
A medical examination found traces of semen on the woman’s tampon. It was linked to Kumar and he was arrested.
Mr Dee said: “He was interviewed about the matter three months later and gave a prepared statement.
“Basically it said ‘I took her home, I did not rape her, I did not do anything to her’.”
Kumar claimed he had touched himself sexually while at the party. One explanation may be that his semen transferred from hand-to-hand.
When being cross-examined by Kumar’s defence barrister Alisdair Smith, the victim said Kumar had a history of groping her.
Mr Smith said to her: “You said in your police interview Bobby must have had something to do with it.
“You said he was ‘a bit touchy-feely’ and touched your bottom sometimes in the pub.
“I am going to suggest to you that is not something he did.”
She replied: “He did.”
Kumar denied the offence but was found guilty of rape.
Derby Telegraph reported that Kumar was jailed for eight years. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.
Detective Constable Fiona Rai said:
“Kumar took advantage of a young woman who was vulnerable.”
“We can only hope that the sentence goes some way to ensuring he faces the consequences of his abhorrent actions.
“Throughout the investigation and the trial, Kumar denied what he had done, forcing the victim to relive what had happened to her.
“I would like to commend the victim for her immense courage in not only reporting the incident but also during the distressing and difficult time she will have faced following on from the attack.
“Although nothing can erase what has happened, I hope that the victim will be able to find some closure knowing that Kumar is locked up and has been brought to justice.
“We also hope that this will demonstrate that no matter what the circumstances are, we are committed to supporting survivors of rape and sexual assault and will do everything we can to identify offenders and put them before the courts.”
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