A British Army Gurkha has been locked up for six months after he sexually assaulted a cleaner by grabbing her and trying to drag her into a toilet cubicle to have sex.
Rifleman Tarahang Rai waited in the toilet block and begged the woman for a kiss each time she returned to do her job of cleaning the men’s toilets at an army base in Brunei, a court martial heard.
When she rejected his advances on two occasions, the 26-year-old soldier hid in a cubicle before grabbing her by the wrists, asked her for sex and tried to drag her inside.
The victim told the court Rfn Rai did not let go of her hands until she threatened to shout for help.
Rfn Rai denied assaulting the cleaner, claiming she came onto him and made up the allegation after he turned down her advances.
But he was found guilty following a trial at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, and was sentenced to six months at the Military Corrective Training centre in Colchester, Essex.
Rfn Rai, of the 2 Royal Gurkha Rifles, was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years.
Rifleman Tarahang Rai, pictured here outside the court, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a cleaner at Tuker Lines base in Brunei
The trial heard the woman was cleaning on the Tuker Lines base in Brunei at the time.
Prosecuting, William Peters said: ‘The female cleaner encountered Rfn Rai on three occasions within the men’s toilet that it was her job to clean.
‘On the first two occasions he made suggestive comments to her and asked for a kiss and on the third and final occasion he actually grabbed hold of her and tried to pull her into the cubicle having again asked her for a kiss.’
Mr Peters told the court the female cleaner first went to the men’s toilet block to wash some mugs and was met with silence when she shouted into the room to check there was no one inside.
After entering the block, she found Rfn Rai who asked her to kiss him.
The cleaner left to carry out other cleaning duties and returned to the toilets later, only to find Rfn Rai still waiting inside.
On the third occasion, the woman called out and again received no response but was shocked when Rfn Rai appeared from behind a partially closed cubicle door, the court heard.
Mr Peters said: ‘He emerged and and continued where he left off, harassing her, but took it a stage further and grabbed hold of her forcefully and tried to pull her to the toilet.
‘After a relatively short time, she was able to push him off.’
The cleaner said it was ‘painful’ when Rfn Rai grabbed her wrists and she was ‘scared’ of losing her job if she made a fuss.
Rfn Rai claimed the cleaner has come on to him, by calling him ‘cute’ and that she filed the complaint because she was upset at how he had rejected her. But his claim was rejected and he was found guilty
She said: ‘He asked me to kiss him and then wanted to do a bad thing.
‘I wanted to scream but I did not want to create any trouble at the time because I was scared of losing my job.
‘I rejected him politely because I know the Army is more powerful than a weak woman.
‘I said “please leave me alone”… he said “just a couple of minutes, just for a few minutes”.
‘I tried to get out but he wouldn’t let me go.
‘I said “just let me go, just let me go”, he said “no”.
‘He asked for sex… I told him I wasn’t really interested.
‘I was very scared. I tried to calm down myself [and tried] not to panic. He was forcing me to kiss him, I told him let me go or I would shout.
‘Once I told him I would shout he [let go of] my hands.’
Rfn Rai was found guilty following a trial at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, and was sentenced to six months at the Military Corrective Training centre in Colchester, Essex
After breaking free from Rfn Rai’s ‘rough’ grip and leaving the toilets, the woman reported the incident to her boss, the court heard.
Rfn Rai claimed the cleaner has come on to him, by calling him ‘cute’ and that she filed the complaint because she was upset at how he had rejected her.
But his claim was rejected and he was found guilty before being sentenced to six months at the Military Corrective Training centre.
