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How A US Citizen Of Indian Origin Used Facebook To Find The Man Who Raped Her In A Delhi Hotel

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A 22-year-old American woman of Indian origin, who was staying at a hotel in Paharganj and was raped earlier this month, has helped the police search for the accused through Facebook.

While the incident of her rape was reported on Friday after the accused was caught by the police, her lawyer has said that he was caught because of the woman's presence of mind.

The woman had been introduced to the culprit by three men, who she said had befriended her. She did not remember much of what the accused looked like because she was introduced to him the same night as she was raped.

The Hindustan Times reported that while her 'friends' had dissuaded her from filing a complaint, and the IO had forced her to write it in Hindi (a language she cannot write), she persuaded the case. She had to approach an SHO who directed her to file the complaint in English.

The survivor came to India for a study tour with two friends in January. She attended a family event in Patiala in May and came back to Delhi on May 14. She stayed in India to complete her study tour while he friends went back to Delhi.

The Times of India had reported that Amanpal Singh and Varinder who was supposedly friends with the woman had introduced her to Jaswant Singh and that Jaswant had raped her after a party in her hotel room in Paharganj.

Her lawyer Surender Singh Hooda told The Hindustan Times, "Despite being dissuaded to pursue a police case, she instantly searched Singh on Facebook, sent him a friend request and then saved his picture for record. She then passed on that photo to the police, which led to his arrest. If she did not have a photo, the police would not have been able to put a face to this person."

The report in The Times of India reported that the woman was supposed to check out of her hotel room that night, but the Amanpal and Varinder insisted that she hold on to the room. That night Mukesh, another guy she was introduced to earlier, hosted a party in the room and forced her to drink till she was dizzy. Mukesh had brought along Jaswant. The men then left her alone with Jaswant, who raped her.

All three of them had shrugged this off as a 'dhoka'.

The Hindu reported that an FIR was filed on May 23, based on the complaint of the woman.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.