Perthshire man arrested in India for alleged rape

Crispin Lamont is being held for alleged rape in India Picture: Facebook

Crispin Lamont, from Scone in Perthshire, is being held over claims he had sex with a woman on the pretext of marrying her.

Lamont, who ran a chain of gyms in the country, is accused of breaking Indian laws of sex under false assurances of marriage,

In India, a man can be accused of rape if a woman consented to sex under false assurances that he planned to marry her, which can be deemed to cause “irreversible psychological and physical damage”.

If convicted, Lamont could face between seven and ten years in prison.

According to the Indian Voice newspaper, he was arrested on Saturday and will be held in custody for 14 days while police investigate the claim.

The alleged victim said she had decided to file a complaint after Lamont started avoiding her about a fortnight ago. She told investigators she left several e-mails and messages for Lamont, telling him she felt violated, but received no response.

The woman posted on Lamont’s Facebook page days before his arrest, writing: “That was a really cruel joke you played on me. “

“You assured me you were crazy about me, you went down on your knees and asked me to be your girl,” the poster added.

“I was so happy until I walked into your home and found another woman there.

“You are a characterless cheat. I don’t know how anyone can be so deceitful.”

The alleged victim claims that Lamont had sex with her more than once in his house in the upmarket Defence Colony region of Delhi after he proposed to her.

In her complaint the alleged victim – described as a 30-year-old entrepreneur – first connected with Lamont on Facebook two-and-a-half months ago and met him to discuss business.

Inspector Satish Sharma told the BBC that the complainant had discovered he was in a relationship with another woman, and lodged a complaint with the police.

A spokeman for the Indian police said: “We have arrested the Scottish national on charges of rape.”

According to the National Crime Records Bureau 2013 annual report, 24,923 rape cases were reported across India in 2012. It is the fourth most reported crime in the country.

According to one report, in the Times of India newspaper, cases involving “breach of promise to marry” make up about 20 per cent to 30 per cent of all reported rapes in India, although it is understood convictions are rare.

Lamont has reportedly lived in New Delhi for nearly ten years.

The website of Ozone, a chain of gyms in Delhi, indicated that Lamont at one point served as the company’s CEO.

In a statement issued to the Indian media, the firm said he had joined them about four months ago, but that it had teminated his services “with immediate effect”.