Sweden jails 'infidelity check' rapist
The man felled for rape after forcing himself on his partner for an "infidelity check" has been jailed for two years and eight months for the attack, aggravated domestic abuse, and perverting the course of justice in the landmark case.
Sweden's Supreme Court (Högsta Domstolen) recently ruled that the assault could be deemed rape, after a lower court initially said it was not rape as the intent was not of a sexual nature. The case returned to the Svea Court of Appeals, which on Wednesday sentenced him to spend 32 months in prison, as well as paying damages of 116,000 kronor ($17,700) to his victim.
The controversial case had made the rounds of the Swedish legal system before coming to its conclusion this week.
"If a man forces a woman to tolerate him putting his fingers in her genitals, then the incident has a tangible sexual character that is capable of violating her sexual integrity. It is therefore a question of a punishable sexual act," the Supreme Court wrote in a statement in June, putting an end to speculation as to whether the man should be imprisoned for rape or not.
"The circumstances in this case are such that the act shall be deemed as rape, no less aggravated rape."
The man had at first been convicted of rape by a lower court after he tore off his girlfriend's clothes and forced his fingers into her genitals on suspicion that she had been unfaithful, legal trade publication Dagens Juridik reported.
But in reviewing the case, the Svea Court of Appeal (Hovrätten) threw out the rape conviction, arguing that the man's actions weren't sexual in nature and therefore did not qualify as rape according to the criminal code.
That ruling was overruled in June by the Supreme Court, which takes on cases where verdicts set precedent.
TT/The Local/at
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Sweden's Supreme Court (Högsta Domstolen) recently ruled that the assault could be deemed rape, after a lower court initially said it was not rape as the intent was not of a sexual nature. The case returned to the Svea Court of Appeals, which on Wednesday sentenced him to spend 32 months in prison, as well as paying damages of 116,000 kronor ($17,700) to his victim.
The controversial case had made the rounds of the Swedish legal system before coming to its conclusion this week.
"If a man forces a woman to tolerate him putting his fingers in her genitals, then the incident has a tangible sexual character that is capable of violating her sexual integrity. It is therefore a question of a punishable sexual act," the Supreme Court wrote in a statement in June, putting an end to speculation as to whether the man should be imprisoned for rape or not.
"The circumstances in this case are such that the act shall be deemed as rape, no less aggravated rape."
The man had at first been convicted of rape by a lower court after he tore off his girlfriend's clothes and forced his fingers into her genitals on suspicion that she had been unfaithful, legal trade publication Dagens Juridik reported.
But in reviewing the case, the Svea Court of Appeal (Hovrätten) threw out the rape conviction, arguing that the man's actions weren't sexual in nature and therefore did not qualify as rape according to the criminal code.
That ruling was overruled in June by the Supreme Court, which takes on cases where verdicts set precedent.
TT/The Local/at
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