Dutch rape: Delhi court rejects bail plea of youth

A Delhi court today rejected the bail plea of a youth who was arrested for allegedly raping two Dutch women after taking them to Jammu and Kashmir posing as a tourist guide.

District judge SP Garg said the plea of Yasir Altaf, who had claimed that the physical relationship was consensual, was devoid of any merit as the investigation into the case was at the nascent stage.

"Application is devoid of any merit. The investigation is still at the nascent stage," the court said. The youth from Kashmir was arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by one of the victims at Connaught Place police station here.

The women had alleged that Altaf and one of his associates, posing as tourist guides, raped them several times in last five months and also robbed them of their money.

The complainant had claimed that they were horrified and succumbed to the men as they had taken their passports and were threatening to put them in trouble.

Altaf is in judicial custody since June 26.

While filing the bail plea, his counsel Sufian Siddiqui had claimed that his client had been "falsely implicated" and police had acted without following the basic procedure of verifying the claims of the complainant.

He claimed that Altaf had consensual relationship with one of the women.