A daytime street scene with focus on safety Police tape in Hindi. Hindi is spoke in Uttar Pradesh, H (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
A man has been arrested on suspicion of raping a British woman who had travelled to India to meet a man she met online, Indian police have said. A second suspect, who is accused of molesting and attempting to silence the woman as she was being allegedly raped in a Delhi hotel, has also been taken into custody. The woman, from London, is said to have met up with the alleged rapist, named by media in India as Kailash, after making friends with him online a few months ago.
She was on holiday in the western state of Goa when the 24-year-old suspect, from Vasundhara in east Delhi, is said to have told her he was unable to travel to the seaside resort and invited her to meet him in the Indian capital instead. The woman is understood to have made the 1,200-mile trek and checked into a hotel in the village of Mahipalpur on Tuesday night before arranging to meet with Kailash. The rape suspect is said to have arrived with his friend Wasim before the three of them had dinner before heading to her hotel room.
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All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA) activists hold placards and shout slogans during a (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Kailash is then accused of raping her, while Wasim is alleged to have assisted.
The woman subsequently told police Kailash struggled to speak in English and used Google Translate to communicate with her.
Both men have since been taken from a police station in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, to appear before a magistrate.
Police in Delhi have said: “A man was arrested on charges of rape with a British woman in a Mahipalpur hotel in Delhi. His accomplice was arrested on charges of molestation.”
A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting a British woman in India and are in touch with the local authorities.”
According to the National Crime Records Bureau in India, police recorded 31,516 rape cases in India in 2022, a 20% increase from 2021.
However, the real numbers could be far higher due to the stigma surrounding sexual violence and victims’ lack of faith in the police.
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Demonstrators hold placards to protest against the alleged rape and murder of a woman. (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Rape and sexual violence have been under the spotlight in India since the 2012 gang rape and brutal murder of a 23-year-old student in Delhi.
The crime shocked the nation, and mass protests took place across the country against the dangers women face.
The protests forced the Government to enact new laws, change old ones and make the punishment for rape more severe.
Special courts have been established to try such cases in a timely period.
Meanwhile, the age at which people could be tried for rape as an adult was lowered from 18 to 16.
In 2018, the Indian Government approved the death penalty for people convicted of raping children under 12.