Melbourne:
An Australian court in Melbourne has ordered deportation of an Indian taxi driver after convicting him of assaulting a woman passenger four years ago.
Jaswinder Singh Mutta, 27, who fled Australia after committing the crime, was extradited from India in January 2012 following his arrest by the Indian police.
He was convicted of assaulting the 26-year-old woman passenger in his taxi in Melbourne in January, 2010.
Mutta pleaded guilty before the county court to indecently assaulting the woman.
The judge yesterday sentenced Mutta to the time he has already served, plus one day so deportation arrangements could be made.
"This is a terribly tragic affair that has seen the lives of two obviously promising young people wrecked up to this point," the judge was quoted as saying by the Herald Sun.
"The 867 days Mutta had spent in custody were sufficient punishment for his crime," defence lawyer Luke Barker said.
The defence counsel said the devout Sikh had spent six months in "extremely arduous" circumstances in Indian custody and had been in restrictive protective custody for the past 19 months due to severe racial abuse received from other prisoners.
Jaswinder Singh Mutta, 27, who fled Australia after committing the crime, was extradited from India in January 2012 following his arrest by the Indian police.
He was convicted of assaulting the 26-year-old woman passenger in his taxi in Melbourne in January, 2010.
Mutta pleaded guilty before the county court to indecently assaulting the woman.
The judge yesterday sentenced Mutta to the time he has already served, plus one day so deportation arrangements could be made.
"This is a terribly tragic affair that has seen the lives of two obviously promising young people wrecked up to this point," the judge was quoted as saying by the Herald Sun.
"The 867 days Mutta had spent in custody were sufficient punishment for his crime," defence lawyer Luke Barker said.
The defence counsel said the devout Sikh had spent six months in "extremely arduous" circumstances in Indian custody and had been in restrictive protective custody for the past 19 months due to severe racial abuse received from other prisoners.
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