A 79-year-old former doctor who sexually abused a child in Sydenham has been sentenced to fifteen years and six months in jail.
Lalitkumar Muljibhai Nirmal of Malham Close N11, sexually abused his victim for eleven years, in various places, including Croydon, Sydenham and Cwmbran in Wales.
Police say he “hid behind a veneer of respectability as a doctor” but “abused this position of trust” to inflict years of “predatory” abuse on the victim.
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Nirmal was also convicted of indecent assault against a separate young girl who was also known to him.
Anjie Bowen, Senior Crown Prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service’s Rape and Serious Sexual Offences unit, said: “Lalitbhai Nirmal carried out a sustained campaign of sexual abuse, whilst hiding behind a veneer of respectability as a doctor and trusted local GP.
“His vulnerable victims have been left devastated by the harmful impact of his offending on their lives.
“His actions were predatory and despicable. One of Nirmal’s victims endured appalling abuse at his hands for a decade, throughout a large portion of her childhood.”
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Nirmal was registered as a general practitioner with the General Medical Council between 1972 and 1995. During the time of offending he was a GP in Cwmbran, Wales.
Police received information relating to Nirmal in October 2019, and further information was disclosed two months later.
On August 5 2020, Nirmal was interviewed under caution. Following a detailed investigation and consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, he was charged on May 24 2021.
He was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Wednesday, August 10. He had pleaded guilty to eight counts of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 14 years and four counts of gross indecency with a girl under the age of 14 years.
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Detective Sergeant Mark Morris, from South East BCU CID, said: “I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the victims in this case, who have been extremely courageous in coming forward to police and recounting the trauma of the years of abuse they suffered because of Nirmal.
“One can’t even begin to imagine the impact, both physical and mental, such sustained abuse will have had and I hope today’s sentence will give some sense of closure and peace.
“We know that Nirmal was a GP in the 1980s in the Torfaen area of Wales. Whilst the victims were not patients of his, we must consider the possibility that he abused this position of trust to hurt others.
“As such, I would appeal for anyone with information they believe could be relevant to contact the police on 101. Any information passed will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence and handled by a specialist team with significant experience in dealing with offences of this nature.”
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Anjie Bowen added: “I hope these convictions provide the victims with some sense of closure and encourage other victims to come forward and report their abusers to the police. Sexual offences are some of the most harrowing cases that we prosecute. T
“The CPS is committed to bringing sexual offenders to justice regardless of the time that has passed since the crime took place.”
Those with further information relating to this case are asked to contact police on 101.