A convicted rapist has been found guilty of perverting the course of justice, after he phoned his victim to persuade her to change her evidence.
Pravin Fia Hari Prasad Kumar called his victim from prison, trying to convince her to say she had only been touched, not raped by him, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Kumar failed to turn up for his trial in 2009 but was nonetheless convicted of rape, kidnapping and indecent exposure.
After his conviction Kumar took his case to the Court of Appeals and at the time of the June 2011 phone calls, he was serving preventative detention.
In his phone conversations with his victim Kumar pretended to be a doctor and chatted to the woman about her ordeal, suggesting that she had only been touched, not raped.
Justice Geoffrey Venning today said Kumar had “bullied” the woman, who suffered from schizophrenia and resides in a mental health care facility.
Crown prosecutor Alysha McClintock said that Kumar used “carefully calculated statements” to try and persuade his victim to change her evidence and retract her rape claim.
He was found guilty on one charge of perverting the course of justice and acquitted on another.
Kumar has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced in September.
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