Guilty of rape

A SAN FERNANDO judge yesterday described a father of four as a “sexual predator” after he was found guilty of raping a woman five years ago. Justice Devan Maharaj presiding in the San Fernando Assizes when he made his feelings known after Ravi Bachan, 34, was found guilty.

Bachan will on April 28, know what type of punishment Justice Rampersad will impose on him.

Bachan, of New Settlement in California was on trial before the judge and a nine-member all-male jury charged with the rape, buggery and grievous sexual assault of a 22-year-old woman at Couva in 2001.

The State’s case led by State prosecutor Mauriceia Joseph was that about 2 am on December 14, 2001, the woman was standing at St Mary’s Junction in Freeport near KFC awaiting transportation to Couva.

The woman stopped a car which she believed was a “PH” taxi and upon entering the vehicle she asked to be taken to a particular area and the driver, who was Bachan, agreed. Instead of taking the woman to her requested destination, Bachan turned off into a canefield road at Exchange Lots in Couva where he raped and buggered her. He also forced her to perform a sex act.

The jury returned a guilty verdict after an hour and a half of deliberations. The court heard that the accused is currently serving a 12 month jail term for stealing copper wire. His attorney Kevin Ratiram pleaded with the court for a lenient sentence.

Justice Rampersad said the offence against the woman was very serious and suggested that Bachan displayed “sexual predatory behaviour.” The judge said he wanted a probationer’s report to know more about the accused before deciding his sentence. Bachan’s defence was that the woman had consented to have sex. Bachan was charged by Ag Insp Noel Corbett in 2002.