Indian-origin ex-cop faces trial in US for sexual assault

An Indian-origin former police officer today went on trial in the US State of Massachusetts on charges of sexual assaulting a woman while on duty.
Rajat Sharda, 33, allegedly sexually assaulted the 29-year-old Connecticut woman in August 2013, threatening her not to report the incident, The Telegram reported today.
The woman testified in court that on August 6, 2013, night she was inside a parked sports utility vehicle (SUV) with her boyfriend Michael Betancourt when Sharda approached the vehicle and asked her to step outside the SUV.
"He was asking me what I'd be willing to do to not be arrested," she stated in court.

After handcuffing Betancourt, Sharda allegedly sexually assaulted and threatened the woman, before leaving from the location.
The first police officer of Indian descent on the Worchester, Massachusetts's police force, Sharda was removed from service in September 2014 and was charged with sexual assault, open and gross lewdness, witness intimidation and larceny.