A remarkable story from New Zealand, not only because of the courage of the woman concerned, but also because of the general comments by people in the UK.
Vipul Sharma, aged 22, was found guilty of abduction and two charges of rape by the Auckland District Court in New Zealand.
Sharma met the victim at an Auckland bar in 2006 and later drove her to a park where he raped her in the back seat of his car. After the attack, Sharma allowed the woman to drive and fell asleep in the passenger seat, so the woman drove him to Auckland Central police station where he was arrested.
The police, who were absolutely amazed when she turned up at the station with the attacker, said the case was unique and they praised the bravery of the woman after such an ordeal.
The general reaction to the story in the UK, apart from the natural sympathy for the victim, of course, seems to have been along the lines:
Thank God it happened in New Zealand. If that had happened in the UK, the woman would have no doubt been charged with abduction, driving whilst uninsured and theft of a vehicle, while the man would have been given a cup of tea, been sent home in a taxi and given a huge wad of cash as compensation for his ordeal.
If such comments weren’t pretty close to the mark they’d be laughable, but it appears to be the way things are going at the moment. It’s all very sad.