Delhi cops arrest man for ‘rape’ of British woman; hotel staffer held for ‘molesting’ her

British woman was known to primary accused through Instagram, it is learnt, and the two had planned to meet during her visit to India. Alleged incident took place in Mahipalpur.

Mahipalpur lies on the left of NH-8 on the way from Delhi to Gurugram — a narrow 5km stretch of guest houses, hotels, spas and parlours | Revathi Krishnan | ThePrint

New Delhi: A British woman has alleged that she was sexually assaulted at a hotel in Delhi’s Mahipalpur Tuesday by a man she befriended on Instagram. Delhi police have arrested the primary accused, Kailash, on charges of rape. Wasim, a staff member at the hotel in question, has also been arrested on charges of molesting the foreign national.

According to senior police officials, the British woman landed in India on 7 March and went to Goa before travelling to New Delhi on 11 March.

The alleged incident in question took place Tuesday night soon after the woman checked into a hotel in Delhi’s Mahipalpur. “It has been alleged that the accused (Kailash) and the victim met at the hotel and he forced himself on her and sexually assaulted her. The other accused molested her. Further investigation is on,” a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity.

Police sources said the main accused and the woman first spoke in February over Instagram and had planned to meet during her trip to India.

The incident has come to light days after an Israeli tourist and another woman, a homestay owner, were allegedly gang-raped in Karnataka’s Hampi by three men. The accused also pushed three male companions of the women into a nearby canal, resulting in the death of a 29-year-old.

The deceased, from Odisha, and the survivors were part of a group of five camping near the banks of Tungabhadra canal in Gangavathi, a popular tourist destination.

The three accused, identified as Sai Chetan Kameshwara, 21, Mallesh Dasara, 22, and Sharana Basavaraj, 30, local residents of the Gangavathi region, have been arrested. Police say they are construction workers.

The accused allegedly intercepted the group on bikes while they were stargazing and demanded money from them. Police officials said this turned into an argument after the tourists refused to pay them, and they pushed the three men into the canal and sexually assaulted the women.

(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)