A Kerala court on Friday sentenced an ambulance driver to life imprisonment for raping a 19-year-old woman while she was being transported to a Covid care centre in September 2020.

V. Noufal, the ambulance driver, was transporting the patient from a medical centre to a Covid care centre opened by the state government. Instead of taking her to the Centre, he took her to another place and sexually assaulted her.

After the incident, Noufal apologised to her, which she had recorded on her mobile phone.

R. Binu, the Kerala Police official who headed the probe, said it was a difficult case as the state was under lockdown.

“We found it hard to get evidence, and it was after a team work we were able to get all the evidence and filed the charge sheet,” said Binu.

The police managed to get evidence from 55 people.

It was the Pathanamthitta District and Sessions Judge N. Harikumar who pronounced the sentence against Noufal.

The victim had reported the incident to the healthcare workers in the centre, where she was put up as she was Covid-positive.

Soon, the police took her statement, and Noufal was arrested.

Noufal has been found guilty of multiple charges, including rape and others.

The Court also found him guilty under Sections of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which deals with sexual offences against SC/ST women and prescribed enhanced punishment when such offences are committed by a person not belonging to a Scheduled Caste or Tribe.

The Court also directed him to pay a total fine of Rs 1,08,000, which is to be given as compensation to the survivor.

The Court had found him guilty of the crime on Thursday, and the verdict was announced on Friday.

The Kerala Police official who probed the case further added that getting the crucial evidence took a long time from the concerned medical professionals as they were posted at different places.