A “predator” who broke into a house “in the dead of night” and raped a woman as she slept has been jailed for nine years.
Kamal Kumar Nepali (24), of Beech Park, Ballincollig, Co Cork, appeared before Mr Justice Michael MacGrath in the Central Criminal Court on Monday.
He was found guilty following a trial of one count of rape, one count of burglary, one count of assault causing harm, one count of sexual assault and four counts of trespass in Cork on March 1st, 2022. He denied the charges.
Imposing the sentence, Mr Justice MacGrath described the rape as a “terrifying experience” and “predatory in nature”.
He said the assault occurred in the victim's own bedroom “in the dead of night” and that the victim was “particularly vulnerable”. The judge also noted the harm and trauma that the incident caused her.
Mr Justice MacGrath said the aggravating factors included that the rape involved physical violence, occurred in the circumstances of a burglary, and violated the safety and security of the victim's own home.
He said the mitigating factors included that Nepali has no previous convictions, and he took into account character references handed in to court by family and co-workers.
'Calculated attack'
“The absence of an expression of remorse or apology reduces room for mitigation,” the judge said, adding that Nepali “does not express remorse, apology or victim empathy”.
The judge also noted: “He is also a young man whose reputation and standing in the community is likely to be diminished, albeit of his own making.”
Mr Justice MacGrath sentenced Nepali to 10 years' imprisonment, but suspended the final year on strict conditions.
He also ordered that there be no contact between Nepali and his victim for an indefinite period going forward.
The sentence was backdated to when Nepali entered custody on June 17th, 2022.
Nepali's defence counsel indicated his intention to appeal the decision.
Sergeant John Paul Twomey told Ray Boland SC, prosecuting, at a previous sentence hearing that “this was a calculated attack on a female while she slept” and that “the actions of Mr Nepali were that of a predator”.
The court heard the victim had been socialising with housemates at a nearby pub on the night of February 28, 2022. At around 2am, she left the pub and walked home.
She got home, changed into pyjamas and went to sleep. She woke up at 7am to find Nepali in her room with his arms across her body.
Nepali had broken into her house and raped her as she slept, causing injury to her body. The woman said she was a heavy sleeper, and the alcohol she had drunk earlier that evening meant she slept heavier than usual.
Nepali said he had been there three weeks earlier, which the woman said was not true. She asked him to leave.
After he left, he requested to follow her on Instagram. The woman saw he had accessed her phone without her knowledge and followed his own account as she slept.
The woman was in a state of panic and realised her leg was sore and that there was bruising on her body.
One of the woman's housemates said Nepali had entered the house at 5.30am, and that she had asked him to leave or she would call the gardaí. She thought he had left because she saw a motion sensor outside activate.
Nepali had attempted to enter different houses earlier that night, the court heard.
Sgt Twomey said Nepali was entering houses looking “to find an intoxicated female to rape”, but that the first four houses he entered all had male occupants.
Gardaí were informed the day of the assault and the victim attended a sexual assault unit.
Nepali was arrested and interviewed on March 22nd, 2022. The court heard that throughout his detention, his version of what happened changed, with major discrepancies.
Nepali was unanimously convicted on December 7th, 2023, on all counts on the indictment.
The confusion, fear and upset from that morning will never leave me.
In a victim impact statement handed in to the court and read on her behalf, the woman said: “I will never forget coming home to my parents and watching my dad cry.”
“I had love bites all over my neck and bruises on my lower body. I covered myself in scarves and turtlenecked jumpers until these cleared. Not only did I not want to see these, I wanted to protect my family and friends from this too.”
“The confusion, fear and upset from that morning will never leave me. I couldn't make sense of the situation nor comprehend how my life was about to change,” she wrote. “I became a shell of a person I once was, unable to speak or process the events that occurred.”
“I wouldn't wish this on anyone and I will continue to carry this for the rest of my life,” she ended her statement.
John Peart SC, defending, said his client “has never been in trouble before” and that this evening seems to have been “completely contrary to his character and life until then”.
He said his client does not accept that he raped the woman.
“He's still a young man. He has the rest of his life to go before him,” counsel added.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
