US woman gang-rape case transferred to sessions court

A local magistrate's court on Friday transferred a case related to sexual assault on a US tourist here to the sessions court.

Metropolitan Magistrate Jasjeet Kaur transferred the case to District Judge's court, which will hear the matter on March 17.

On the next date of hearing, the case would most likely be forwarded to a fast-track court exclusively dealing with sexual offences against women, a court source said.

The magistrate marked the file to District Judge after considering the Delhi Police's chargesheet filed against four accused -- Aniruddha Singh, Omprakash, Maqsood and Vivek -- who were arrested in December last year for the alleged gang-rape of the American tourist.

Among the accused, Aniruddha Singh was a Nepal-based tourist guide, Omprakash a driver, Maqsood a helper, and Vivek was a bell-boy at the hotel where the crime took place.

The police have chargesheeted them under Sections 376-D (gang-rape), 377 (unnatural sex), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), besides Section 506 (criminal intimidation) read with Section 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

The 30-year-old victim's statement from America alleged that she was gang-raped at a luxury hotel in the first week of April last year.

The Delhi Police registered an FIR last year on the complaint of the woman as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj intervened in the matter.

The victim had filed a police complaint with the help of an NGO in early December, saying that the accused drugged her and sexually assaulted her for two days and also made an MMS.

The accused have, however, denied the charge.

--IANS

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