4 held for American’s gangrape in Delhi hotel

New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Monday arrested four persons in connection with the gangrape of a 25-year-old US national earlier this year in a five-star hotel in Connaught Place.

The arrests come after the victim, currently in India, went public expressing her displeasure on the progress of the case and on a day when the Delhi Commission for Women issued a notice to the Delhi Police asking why the statement of the victim was not sent to the commission’s rape crisis centre.

On December 3, the police had received a complaint through an email sent by the complainant to a Delhi-based NGO. She had alleged that five persons including a tourist guide raped her when she was a tour visit to India in April.

Joint commissioner of Police (southwestern range) Dependra Pathak said four persons have been arrested in connection with the case. “We had launched the probe as we received the complaint from the victim. She was requested to join the investigation. The complainant was kind enough and Delhi police have highest regard for her. She came to India and helped us in collecting clinching evidences. Following the complete investigations, we arrested four of the accused persons. Out of them one is tour guide, the other two are drivers and the helper of the tourist bus and one the alleged staff of the hotel where the incident had taken place,” said Mr Pathak. A case was registered at Connaught Place police station.

The accused persons are identified as tourist guide Anirudh, bus driver and conductor, Om Prakash and Maqsood Khan, respectively and hotel staff Vivek, works as room service boy. All are in between the age of 24 and 40 years.

The identification of all the accused have been completed. The tourist guide and bus driver and operator were identified on the basis of the hotel staff record. The hotel staffs have also been matched with the description given by the woman in her complaint, said police sources. The fifth accused is yet to be verified, added the sources.

The woman in her complaint had said that she came to India in April and stayed at Hotel Park-Inn in located at Connaught Place. She said she was approached by a tourist guide and they visited several places and became friends.

Police sources said the woman alleged Anirudh came to her room on several occasions, and the incident took place when she invited him over one day. “The woman alleged that he came along with a friend and they offered her a cold drink, which was laced with sedatives. When she regained consciousness, she realised she had been raped by several men. She said she was threatened with dire consequences if she told anyone,” police sources said.

The woman said she did not approach police in India as she was scared. But after reaching home, she told her parents about the incident, and they encouraged her to file a complaint, police sources said.