Indian-origin cabbie pleads not guilty to rape
By IANSWednesday, September 29, 2010
MELBOURNE - An Indian-origin taxi driver, accused of raping a 40-year-old woman in Australia, Wednesday pleaded not guilty to the crime before a court here.
Rajeev Singh, 21, has been committed to stand trial at the conclusion of the three-day hearing in the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court, The Age reported.
Singh picked up the woman in his taxi outside a hotel in Melbourne Nov 21 last year and allegedly raped her, the report said.
The woman’s teenage son opened the door of their home in the middle of the night to find her half naked, drunk and saying she had been raped, the court heard early this week.
The boy told the court as he opened the door he saw a taxi driver speeding away.
In a statement to the court, the woman said she was drunk and had gone into “auto” mode in the cab and had no memory of what happened, the report said.
Magistrate Peter Reardon ordered Singh face the Victorian county court directions on hearing. The trial is expected to commence in June next year.
Singh was released on bail.
