Indian extradited to US to face charges of raping teenage girl

mangaloretoday.com

New York, Oct 2, 2013 (PTI): A 32-year-old Indian has been extradited to the US to face charges in the 2009 rape of a teenage girl as she walked to her school.

 

Amit Singh was extradited to the US from India last week and has been arraigned on a grand jury indictment charging him with rape in the first and second degrees, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.

He was remanded by Judge Angelo Delligatti and is due back in court on October 11, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said. He faces 25 years in prison.

On March 11, 2009, Singh approached the 14-year-old girl who was walking past his house to her school. He tried to coax her into his home and then grabbed her when she refused. He forced her inside his home where he raped her, and then drove her to school. The victim told a teacher about the incident.

Singh fled the country five days after the attack and one day before the victim positively identified him in a photo array presented by police. His return to the US to face charges is a result of an international manhunt.

Members of the US Marshal’s Service travelled to India last week and brought Singh back to New York’s JFK International Airport where he was arrested by detectives from the Nassau County Police Department’s Special Victims Unit.

"Singh subjected this innocent young girl to unspeakable horrors, both physical and emotional, before running to the other side of the world to avoid the consequences," Rice said.

"The persistence and dedication exhibited by multiple law enforcement agencies, however, guaranteed that there was no corner of the globe where this predator could safely hide."

DNA evidence from the attack came back as a match to Singh in April 2009. Singh’s DNA profile was in the system from a prior felony drug conviction, Rice said.

A grand jury indicted Singh in August 2009. An international warrant was issued by Interpol in February 2011.

The US Department of Justice notified Nassau authorities in July that year that Singh had been arrested while trying to board a plane to Thailand. He had been imprisoned in New Delhi and fighting extradition since then. Indian authorities agreed to extradite him earlier this month.