Extradition for rape suspect
A MAN accused of raping a 19-yearold woman almost 12 years ago is facing extradition to the UK from India to be charged.
Sewa Singh Shergill, 48, is facing charges of rape and assault causing actual bodily harm after the teenager was attacked inwest Bromwich,west Midlands in August 2010.
A court in New Delhi, has ordered the wanted fugitive to be extradited to face trial after an 18-month legal battle.
Shergill denies the allegations, is appealing the move and claims he is a victim of racial discrimination.
According to court documents, seen by the Sunday Express, his alleged victim was walking home alone from a pub just after 11pm when the attack took place.
She was “approached and dragged from behind into the adjacent parkland where she was subjected to rape,” the legal papers state.
The woman told police at the time that she fought back against her attacker, punching him in the face, and was able to escape. She had sustained bruised across her body.
West Midlands Police later identified Shergill as its prime suspect. It released a photo of him in a public appeal and a relative came forward.
However, by this time Shergill had travelled to his native India.
An extradition request was submitted to India’s Ministry of External Affairs by the UK Government, via Interpol, in 2015.
Shergill was arrested in Jalandhar, Punjab in December 2020, after a 10-year international manhunt.
A judgement given by Additional Chief Magistrate Akash Jain last month ruled Shergill should be sent to the UK to face trial “after considering the entire facts, circumstances of the present case, duly authenticated documents received in support of the extradition request.”
Shergill has now lodged an appeal against his extradition and is currently in custody until his next hearing in August.
His lawyer claimed his client “had been falsely implicated on the basis of his nationality, colour and race”.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said: “As there are ongoing proceedings, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”