Indian arrested in Canada for ‘groping spree’ at public water park, victims include minors

The accused was allegedly going around the water park groping people. While 12 victims have been identified, Alicia Hill, the mother of one minor girl, indicated on social media that the number could be higher. The police have encouraged people to come forward in case they knew anything or were at the park that day.

“We are asking parents to speak to their children if they attended this location on July 7. We also want people to know that a sexual assault complaint can be made at any time. If you are a victim of sexual misconduct, please contact us. You will be listened to, and you will be believed,” read a press release by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The police also said an investigation into the matter was underway and while the accused was released from custody, he is scheduled to appear in front of the Moncton Provincial Court on 24 October. According to Canadian law, offences involving sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching and exploitation of a young person or child are punishable with a minimum of six months to a maximum of 10 years in jail.

While the identity of the accused has not been revealed, images of him at the water park and of him being arrested by the police were all over the Internet.

This is not the first case of Indian-origin men being accused of sexual assault in the North American country. Canada, to which Indian immigration has tripled in the last decade, has seen multiple instances of complaints of sexual abuse against Indian-origin men.

In June this year, a mother from Ontario took to social media to talk about a South Asian man who was “staring at her daughters’ bodies” in their neighbourhood playground.

Earlier in May, another Indian-origin man was arrested for sexually assaulting underage girls. He “was known to lurk outside of the local high school and leer at minors prior to his arrest,” according to The Publica, a Canadian online news portal.

Two other cases from 2023 also made headlines. A 55-year-old was arrested for sexually assaulting two women during job interviews last September, and a father-son duo was investigated over allegations of sexually assaulting minors on the pretext of providing them vapes, marijuana, cigarettes, and alcohol.

In 2022, an Indian-origin police officer from Ottawa had to resign from service after accusations of sexual assault in a 2011 case. He was charged with the offence this June and is scheduled to appear in court on 18 July.

(Edited by Tikli Basu)

Also read: UK elects record number of 26 Indian-origin MPs & 264 women to House of Commons

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