'Cheat' in court for failing to marry former lover

An Indian man has been convicted of a criminal offence for not marrying a woman he had sex with.

Dharam Singh seduced the woman with offers of marriage but did not fulfil his promise.

A court in New Delhi decided his actions constituted "cheating" and a breach of promise. He will be sentenced later this month.

Singh, an engineer, has told the court the woman was "of loose morals."

Metropolitan magistrate Kamini Lau told Singh a "breach of promise to marry amounts to cheating".

The woman complained Singh had sexually abused her on the promise of marrying her and that he also took £170 from her.

He "induced the complainant to do an act, which she otherwise would not have done," the court heard.

Singh was convicted of house trespassing, theft and inducement, reports said.

The magistrate concluded: "A woman spurned by a man is a victim and suffers not only at the hands of the person who cheated her but also at the hands of society and, at times, her own family."