A 34-year-old man has been arrested by Puducherry police for allegedly sexually assaulting a 64-year-old American woman, on Wednesday, February 1. The man was running a boutique shop in Bussy street of Puducherry, where he befriended the woman who was on a tour to India.

According to Odiyansalai police, Meharaj-ul-Ashqeen Bhat had been running the small boutique in Bussy street for the past eight months. He met the survivor during the first week of January, where she was on a tour. Meharaj Bhat and the woman had exchanged phone numbers and decided to be in contact with each other. The woman, meanwhile, had arrived in Tamil Nadu as part of her tour and when she was back in Puducherry, the duo had met for dinner.

On January 30, they went to her room and had consensual sex initially, according to the police. However, she had asked him to stop and withdrew the consent at one point, the police added, but he refused to listen and allegedly raped her and left the place. The next morning, the woman experienced pain in her private parts and sought his help to go to the hospital. However, he refused to do so, following which the woman got admitted to hospital by herself. The doctors, after examining her, found injuries on her private parts and informed the police.

Based on the woman’s complaint, the police have filed a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and arrested Meharaj.