The 38-year-old woman from Peru was on a solo trip to Mumbai. (Representational)
Stating that his crime tarnished the country's image and leniency will send the wrong message outside India, a city court has sentenced a 19-year-old man to two years in jail for molesting a woman tourist from Peru.
Metropolitan magistrate at Mazgaon court P I Mokashi convicted and sentenced accused Riyaz Ahmed on Friday, a little over two months after the incident.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on him.
The judgement, which became available on Saturday, held that "no such woman like the informant with good background and reputation and being a foreigner can come to the court merely to falsely implicate the accused without any reason unless such incident shall have taken place." During arguments on the quantum of punishment, the accused's lawyer had prayed for leniency considering his age.
As he was young and it was his first offence, he should be released on probation of good conduct, the lawyer had said.
But the court noted that the accused had entered the woman's room only to touch her, and now she was afraid of traveling in India.
"Thereby this act of the accused has maligned the image of our country. If the accused is given benefit under Section 4 of Probation of Offenders Act, wrong message will be sent throughout the world," the magistrate observed.
The accused worked as a manager at the guest house where the 38-year-old woman from Peru, on a solo trip to Mumbai, was staying in March this year.
He kept visiting her room, insisted that she click selfies with him and touched her inappropriately on multiple occasions, she had alleged.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)