British Woman’s Rape: She Came to Meet Social Media Friend, Delhi Police Tells Court

A British woman, who was allegedly raped during her visit to Delhi in March, had come to India thinking she was meeting a friend, the Delhi Police told a local court. According to a 109-page chargesheet filed on May 22, the woman had booked the hotel room herself where the incident took place.

The police said the woman had been in touch with the accused since January through Instagram. After chatting regularly, the two became friends online. She arrived in India on March 7 and stayed in Goa until March 11. On March 12, she travelled to Delhi and checked into a hotel to meet the man.

It was on March 12, police said, that the woman was allegedly raped by the man she had come to meet. Before that, she was also allegedly molested by a housekeeping staff member of the same hotel earlier that day.

An officer involved in the investigation said, “She had booked the hotel for both of them, thinking she was meeting a friend. He allegedly forced himself on her in the hotel room.”

The chargesheet was filed in the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Aniket Singh at Patiala House.

The police said the accused works as a labourer in a glass shop. They added that the tone of the chat records between the two appeared friendly. “She had expressed interest in meeting him,” an officer said.

The man told police that their physical relationship was consensual and that both had consumed alcohol before it happened. Police said they have included both the woman's and the accused's versions in the chargesheet.