New Delhi  - An Indian court sentenced a hotel manager in Udaipur, a tourist destination in northern Rajasthan state, to life imprisonment for raping a British journalist in December 2007, news reports said.

At the fast-track court hearing, Parvat Singh, 32, manager of Pardesi Guest House, was also sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment for "house trespass with an intention to commit an offence," IANS and PTI news agencies reported. Both the sentences would run concurrently, the judge said.

The journalist had arrived in Udaipur on December 19, 2007, and had booked into Singh's hotel. The victim claimed she had been raped by Singh who entered her room on the pretext of giving her a blanket on December 23.

The police registered a case and arrested Singh after the journalist complained in an email to the British High Commission in the Indian capital.

Rajasthan is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India and the state government has asked the police to provide greater protection to foreigners after several attacks on foreign women tourists over recent years.

In 2005, a 47-year-old German tourist was raped by an auto- rickshaw driver and his accomplice in Jodhpur. The two were sentenced to life imprisonment by a fast-track court.

In March 2006, a 26-year-old German student was raped in Alwar by the son of a senior Indian police officer. The accused, BH Mohanty was sentenced to seven years imprisonment but jumped parole in December 2006 and is absconding since then.

In April 2006, a Japanese woman was raped and robbed by the son of a hotel manager, along with three other men, in the holy city of Pushkar. A fast-track court sentenced Babloo, the main accused, to seven years' rigorous imprisonment.

The Rajasthan government's Department of Tourism has a long list of dos and don'ts for tourists which advise them not to allow any one into their room for a drink and snacks or a chat unless the person is really well known.

Advice on the website that seems specifically directed at women tourists includes: "It is quite a closed society, therefore you are advised not to dress in clothes that are too revealing and too scanty" and "Don't hang on to the arms of young men or give them the impression that you find them attractive." (dpa)