'Predator' does not accept he raped victim in Cork after breaking into house

A “predator” who broke into four properties “to find an intoxicated female to rape”, before breaking into a house and raping a woman as she slept, does not accept that he assaulted the victim.

Kamal Kumar Nepali (24), of Beech Park, Ballincollig, Co Cork, appeared before Mr Justice Michael MacGrath in the Central Criminal Court today.

He was found guilty by a jury of one count of rape, one count of burglary, one count of assault causing harm, one count of sexual assault and four counts of trespass in Cork on March 1, 2022 following a trial. He had denied the charges.

Sergeant John Paul Twomey told Ray Boland SC, prosecuting, that “this was a calculated attack on a female while she slept” and that “the actions of Mr Nepali were that of a predator”.

The court heard the victim had been socialising with housemates at a nearby pub on the night of February 28, 2022. At around 2am, she left the pub and walked home.

She got home, changed into pyjamas and went to sleep. She woke up at 7am to find Nepali in her room with his arms across her body.

Nepali had broken into her house and raped her as she slept, causing injury to her body. The woman said she was a heavy sleeper, and the alcohol she had drunk earlier that evening meant she slept heavier than usual.

Nepali said he'd been there three weeks earlier, which the woman said was not true. She asked him to leave.

After he left, he requested to follow her on Instagram. The woman saw he had accessed her phone without her knowledge and followed his own account as she slept.

The woman was in a state of panic and realized her leg was sore and that there was bruising on her chest, legs, crotch and thigh.

One of the woman's housemates said Nepali had entered the house at 5:30am, and that she had asked him to leave or she would call the gardaí. She thought he had left because she saw a motion sensor outside activate.

Nepali had attempted to enter different houses earlier that night, the court heard.

Sgt Twomey said Nepali was entering houses looking “to find an intoxicated female to rape”, but that the first four houses he entered all had male occupants.

Gardai were informed the day of the assault and the victim attended a sexual assault unit.

Nepali was arrested and interviewed on March 22, 2022. Sergeant Twomey said: “Throughout his detention, his version (of what happened) changed with major discrepancies.” 

Nepali was unanimously convicted on December 7, 2023 on all counts on the indictment.

Impact on victim 

In a victim impact statement read on her behalf, the woman said: “I will never forget coming home to my parents and watching my dad cry.

“I had love bites all over my neck and bruises on my lower body. I covered myself in scarves and turtlenecked jumpers until these cleared. Not only did I not want to see these, I wanted to protect my family and friends from this too.

“The confusion, fear, and upset from that morning will never leave me. I couldn’t make sense of the situation, nor comprehend how my life was about to change.

“I became a shell of a person I once was, unable to speak or process the events that occurred.

“I wouldn’t wish this on anyone and I will continue to carry this for the rest of my life,” she ended her statement.

John B Peart SC, defending, said his client “has never been in trouble before” and that this evening seems to have been “completely contrary to his character and life until then”.

He said his client does not accept that he raped the woman. “He's still a young man. He has the rest of his life to go before him.” Nepali has no previous convictions.

Mr Justice MacGrath adjourned the matter until March 11 for finalisation.