- Saturday, April 27, 2024
By: Sarwar Alam
A man found guilty of raping a woman after they met on a dating site has been sentenced to nine year imprisonment.
Chinmay Patel, 34, from Leeds, was jailed at a Southwark Crown Court hearing in London after he was convicted of two counts of rape at the same court last month.
“Patel’s actions were predatory and without control, and the effects of his actions will stay with the woman he attacked for many years to come,” said detective sergeant Vicky Pearce of the Metropolitan Police Sapphire Unit, which deals with sexual offences.
“I hope that the significant sentence handed down encourages other victims of rape to come forward, and brings the rape survivor in this case a sense of closure and justice,” said Pearce.
The court heard that on February 3, 2017, Patel met a woman he had previously chatted with via the Shaadi.com dating website. They visited two bars in the Bayswater area of London, where the woman made it clear that she did not kiss on first dates, before going together to a flat in Westminster.
The woman, aged in her 30s, agreed that Patel would be allowed to sleep over before collecting somebody from Stansted Airport in the morning. But, according to the Met Police, Patel went on to rape the woman twice at the Westminster flat, once shortly after they arrived and again on the morning of February 4, 2017.
The woman attended a support group later that month and a police investigation commenced in March 2017, with the woman being supported by specialist officers.
Patel was arrested on April 30, 2017 and was bailed pending further enquiries prior to being released under investigation. He was charged with two counts of rape on July 29 last year and sentenced for the crimes this week.
