A 22-year-old American woman of Indian origin was allegedly intoxicated and raped by a merchant navy official in central Delhi’s Paharganj area on May 16.

The woman came to the country in December for a family wedding and stayed back to tour north India. She reached Delhi on May 13 and checked into a hotel in Paharganj, where she met three men who befriended her.

According to police, the accused, Jaswant Singh, who was arrested from Paharganj on May 24, was an aide of the three.

“The woman stated that she went around Delhi with the men who also introduced her to their other friends, while her American friends left for home. On May 16, when she was to leave for Patiala to meet a relative, the men insisted that she stay back. She alleged that the men got snacks and drinks and insisted that they have a party at her room in the hotel. She said that the men made her consume a lot of liquor till she was completely intoxicated,” a police officer said.

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She further told police that after getting her drunk, three of her friends left the room leaving the door open and a fourth person entered. She said she could not recognise him. “She said she had not met that person before. She alleged that the man forced himself on her and sexually abused her. She stated that she tried to push him away but was too weak and not in her senses. After assaulting her, the man left the room and the three of her friends returned,” a police officer said.

When the woman asked her friends about the man, they told her that it was Jaswant and they were sorry for what he did to her. “They dissuaded me from filing a complaint and told me a court case would take too long in India. They said it was not worth going to the police,” her complaint read.

The woman’s friends reportedly convinced her to accompany them to Jind to take her mind off what had happened. On May 19, the woman then went to Patiala to meet her relative who then convinced her to file a rape complaint.

“A case of rape was registered immediately after we received a complaint from the woman. Jaswant Singh has been arrested and the woman has also recorded her statement before the magistrate,” DCP central Mandeep Singh Randhawa said.