A Chula Vista man who admitted to severely beating his wife was sentenced Tuesday to 14 years in prison by a judge who heard his wife say she was so afraid of him she went to a hospital and initially claimed she was attacked at a Chula Vista park by muggers.
Vick Nikhil Pathak, 24, apologized to his wife and in a letter appealed to be granted probation and allowed to return to his wife and young daughter.
But San Diego Superior Court Judge Esteban Hernandez disregarded Pathak’s plea and issued a 12-year restraining order that bars Pathak from contacting his wife or daughter.
Last year hospital workers discovered that some of the multiple bruises and injuries to Lucy Pathak, 24, were in their healing stages while other injuries, such as a bloody nose and split lip, were fresh.
The woman initially said two men attacked her March 3, 2010, at Gayle McCandliss Park on East J Street at 7:30 p.m. while she was jogging.
Chula Vista police conducted a community safety forum after the incident because the report came after the February rape and murder of Chelsea King in Poway, who was also attacked while jogging.
After Chula Vista Police questioned the victim some weeks later, they saw she had new injuries and arrested her husband for domestic violence.
Lucy Pathak told Hernandez she doubted her husband would ever change. She said he was jealous for no reason and instructed her how to walk.
Hernandez gave Pathak credit for serving 331 days in jail and ordered him to pay a fine of $3,024. He ordered Pathak to pay $1,610 to the victim’s state compensation fund.
