Indian accused of raping Japanese tourist surrenders to police

Published February 13, 2015
The case is the latest in a string of high-profile sex attacks that have highlighted high levels of violence against women in India. - Reuters/File Photo
The case is the latest in a string of high-profile sex attacks that have highlighted high levels of violence against women in India. - Reuters/File Photo

NEW DELHI: An Indian tour guide accused of drugging and raping a Japanese woman this week in the northern city of Jaipur turned himself in to police on Friday, an officer said.

The man, identified by officers as Ajit Singh Chaudhary, 23, surrendered at a police station on the city's outskirts five days after allegedly attacking the 20-year-old tourist.

“We have formally arrested him after he arrived at the police station. He confessed to the crime and we are investigating further,” Rajender Singh, the officer in charge of Dudu station, told AFP. “We have been pursuing him since he fled,” he added.

The case is the latest in a string of high-profile sex attacks that have highlighted high levels of violence against women in the world's second most populous country.

Singh said the man had been working as an unauthorised guide for the last few years after dropping out of college where he had been pursuing a diploma in tourism studies.

The woman told police that a man met her outside her Jaipur hotel on Sunday, offering to show her around the historic city on his motorbike. He later allegedly gave her food laced with drugs before raping her in a secluded area of the city.

Police had announced a $1,600 reward for information about the attack, and six men were arrested on Tuesday for helping him to evade arrest.

India has faced intense scrutiny over its efforts to curb violence against women following the fatal gang rape of an Indian medical student in New Delhi in December 2012, which sparked a global outcry.

Last month, six men from the eastern city of Kolkata were charged with kidnapping and gang-raping a 22-year-old Japanese tourist whom they had allegedly held hostage for a month.

Opinion

Editorial

Border clashes
19 May, 2024

Border clashes

THE Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier has witnessed another series of flare-ups, this time in the Kurram tribal district...
Penalising the dutiful
19 May, 2024

Penalising the dutiful

DOES the government feel no remorse in burdening honest citizens with the cost of its own ineptitude? With the ...
Students in Kyrgyzstan
Updated 19 May, 2024

Students in Kyrgyzstan

The govt ought to take a direct approach comprising convincing communication with the students and Kyrgyz authorities.
Ominous demands
Updated 18 May, 2024

Ominous demands

The federal government needs to boost its revenues to reduce future borrowing and pay back its existing debt.
Property leaks
18 May, 2024

Property leaks

THE leaked Dubai property data reported on by media organisations around the world earlier this week seems to have...
Heat warnings
18 May, 2024

Heat warnings

STARTING next week, the country must brace for brutal heatwaves. The NDMA warns of severe conditions with...