An Indian national convicted of raping an 18-year-old passenger while working as a taxi driver in Perth has been deported to India after his release from jail.
33-year-old Simardeep Singh was a Swan Taxis driver in January 2011 when he rubbed the leg of a 20-year-old female passenger and also asked her questions about her sex life during the journey.
An hour later, he picked up an 18-year-old female passenger and stopped in a park, telling her he needed to check something on his vehicle. Singh then pinned his victim to a bench in the park and raped her.
Singh was called for questioning by the police and was released pending investigation. But he fled to India and could be brought back to Australia after his extradition in 2015.
Simardeep Singh at the airport before his removal from Australia. Source: Supplied/ ABF
In August 2016, he pleaded guilty to sexual penetration without consent and two counts of indecent assault. His lawyer told the court that Singh’s upbringing and cultural factors were responsible for his offending.
While the sentencing Judge accepted Singh had a culture shock when he moved to Australia in 2008 because of a lack of sex education and women in his homeland dressed more conservatively, he was sentenced to serve a minimum of three and a half years in jail.
The Australian Border Force confirmed that Singh had been deported from Australia on Monday.
"The Australian Government takes its responsibility seriously to protect the community from the risk of harm arising from foreign nationals who choose to engage in criminal activity or other serious conduct of concern," an ABF spokesperson told SBS Punjabi.
"Foreign nationals who do not hold a valid visa will be liable for removal from Australia, following the completion of any custodial sentence.”
The ABF revealed last week that a dozen foreign nationals, including a 31-year-old Indian citizen who had been previously sentenced to two years imprisonment for trying to groom a child for sex, had also been deported from Australia recently.
