A 25-year-old nurse from a leading private hospital was allegedly gangraped by two men in a suite in The Oberoi in Delhi, as the ailing wife of PRS Oberoi, the head of the luxury hotel chain, slept in another portion of the suite, the police said.
According to the victim?s complaint to the police, the incident took place on August 15. The nurse had been hired to look after Oberoi?s wife, while the two accused worked as temporary help around the suite.
DCP, Southeast,P Karunakaran said, ?The accused, Neeraj (25) and Rajan (20), were arrested after the woman lodged a complaint at Nizamuddin police station on Monday morning. A case of gangrape was registered against the accused after the medical examination confirmed rape.?
The police were checking to see if any criminal cases had been registered against the men in the past.
Deepica Sarma, Communication Manager at The Oberoi, said in an official statement, ?The incident is very unfortunate. The individuals in question are not hotel employees. We are fully cooperating with the police and local authorities with the investigation.?
The victim told the police that on the night of August 15, she had retreated to her portion of the suite after giving Oberoi?s wife her daily medicine. She alleged that the two men, who had come into the suite to clean utensils, dragged her to a corner and forced themselves on her by turns. The woman also said in her complaint that the men had threatened her with dire consequences if she spoke of the assault to anyone, including her employers.
?She stated that Mrs Oberoi who was sleeping in the other portion of the room could not hear her scream for help. She alleged that the men gagged and threatened her. After raping the woman, the men reportedly left the room. The victim did not approach us with a complaint for two days, and only came to us on Monday morning,? a senior police officer said.
In her statement to the police, the woman said she had continued to go to work even after the incident. ?She said that she did not take leave, and tried to appear normal before her employers, because she was scared of the accused. On Monday morning, however, she approached us with a complaint,? the officer said.
A senior police officer said, ?The Oberois have a four-year contract with the leading private hospital that provides nurses who come in three different shifts to the hotel to look after Mrs Oberoi. The nurse had been visiting the hotel in shifts on duty earlier also.?
The officer added that while Neeraj had been working with the Oberoi family for the past five years, Rajan had joined him only a month ago.
Sources in the victim?s hospital told Newsline that she was initially very reluctant to go to the police. ?She contacted women in her department on August 15 itself. She was terrified. It is only after doctors and senior hospital authorities persuaded her to approach the police that she filed the FIR,? the sources said.
