4 held for raping American tourist, plead they were wrongly implicated

New Delhi: Four people were arrested on Monday for allegedly raping an American tourist. The accused include a tour guide and a bell boy of a five-star hotel in Connaught Place. The incident had occurred in April. 25-year-old, victim lodged complaint in October. She returned to India recently to depose before a magistrate and identify the accused. The rape survivor narrated that five people drugged and sexually assaulted her inside her hotel room in Connaught Palace soon after she checked in.

Delhi Police has arrested tourist guide Aniruddha Singh, hotel staffer Vivek, driver Om Prakash and cleaner Maqsood Khan. However all four accused claimed that they were being falsely implicated. In their defence they pointed out that the woman had traveled with them to the remaining destinations on her package tour without raising an alarm and even rated them positively in the feedback forms. According to a police officer, they also showed photographs in which her facial expression did not indicate that she was traumatised.

In her statement, the woman said she had come to India on a group tour of 25-30 people organised by a Pennsylvania-based firm. Narrating her ordeal she said she was administered drug before sexually assaulting her. She told she returned home soon after and after a few months, told her mother about the incident. She contacted a non-profit organisation in the US who in turn gave a complaint to the Delhi Police commissioner on October 5 via email, after contacting the tour operator and the hotel in vain.