Click to play videoJaipur: Pushkar is a quiet place say the residents but this is just a misnomer. It's been the seat of much noise since a Japanese tourist was raped in April.
In a fast-track verdict, a Jaipur court on Thursday convicted a guest house owner for the rape of the Japanese tourist.
The court in Ajmer has delivered the verdict in the Pushkar rape case within three months.
Bablu, the main accused, was convicted on charges of raping the Japanese woman after giving her a drink laced with an intoxicant.
The Japanese woman claimed that she had checked into the hotel on April 2 and was raped a number of times by Bablu till April 7.
She then left Pushkar and faxed a complaint from Agra on April 18 naming the accused. The chargesheet was filed on May 10.
Bablu had been charged under Section 376 of IPC and has been given seven years rigourous imprisonment.
Bablu's brother Raju and his mother Roshni have been given three years in jail for connivance.
Two more men - Sanjay and Shahid - who were accused of cheating the Japanese woman of Rs 54,000 that she had given Bablu for safekeeping, have been accquitted.
The woman had given the money to Bablu for he had told her that Pushkar was unsafe for foreign tourists.
Says prosecution lawyer Ashok Tejwani, "According to the prosecution, the verdict given is absolutely fair."
This is the third case of a tourist rape in the state within a year. Rajasthan, a popular draw for foreign tourists and backpackers, is fast gaining notoriety with a spurt in rape cases.
In 2005, a 47-year-old German tourist was abducted and raped by two auto-rickshaw drivers in Jodhpur. The duo were sentenced to life imprisonment by a fast track court within a month.
On March 20 this year, a 26-year-old German research student was raped in an Alwar hotel by the son of a senior police officer.
The victim was a colleague of the accused, who has been found guilty and sentenced to seven years imprisonment by a fast-track court.
Living upto their reputation of delivering speedy justice, the third conviction of a tourist rape case by the fast track courts in Rajasthan has not just worked to provide esential relief to the Japanese tourist, but has also sent a clear message that messing with the state's tradition of hospitality will not be tolerated.
(With inputs from Meenakshi)
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