Delhi: NRI arrested for molesting American woman in 5-star hotel room

A 22-year-old NRI has been arrested for allegedly molesting an American woman in his room at New Delhi's Taj Palace Hotel on January 8. The accused, Anmol Singh Kharbanda, works with a search engine giant.

According to reports, Kharbanda had befriended the US national in the 5-star hotel's bar. Later that night, he invited her to his room on the pretext of smoking, following which he molested her.

The victim immediately left the room. However, she did not immediately file a complaint and left for Jaipur on January 9. She reported the sexual exploitation on Thursday, January 11, after she returned to Delhi.

Police have taken the accused in judicial custody and are investigating the case.

However, this is not the first time that women of other nationalities have reported incidents of sexual assaults while on a visit to New Delhi.

Earlier in July 2017, a taxi driver was arrested for allegedly masturbating at a 33-year-old German woman, who was out walking her pet in the Greater Kailash area of the capital.

In another shocking incident, a 24-year-old German woman was allegedly gang-raped by three unidentified men in Mahabalipuram, a town in Kancheepuram district, around 50km from Chennai. The woman was sleeping under a casuarina grove near the resort in which she was staying when he was dragged to an isolated place and sexually assaulted.

In July 2016, two men had allegedly gang-raped a 25-year-old Israeli woman in Kullu after offering her a lift to Manali.

Three years back, a 46-year-old American tourist, who had come to India for the first time was allegedly gang-raped by two men in Himachal Pradesh's popular hill station Dharamsala.

Another infamous incident, being the case of the British teenager, Scarlett Eden Keeling, who was drugged, gang-raped and murdered near Goa's Anjuna Beach in 2008.