US Court Strips Indian-Origin Man Of Citizenship For Hiding Sexual Assault and Kidnapping Conviction During Naturalisation
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Summarized by AI; it may make mistakes. Check important info
An Indian-origin former taxi driver, Gurmeet Singh, has been stripped of his US citizenship after a federal court found that he concealed a rape and kidnapping while applying for naturalisation. Singh, 55, was convicted in New York of raping and kidnapping a female passenger at knifepoint in 2011 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Singh Concealed Rape During Citizenship Process
According to the US Justice Department, Singh entered the United States in February 1992 as a visitor and later remained in the country without authorisation for years. He obtained permanent residency in June 2000 through a family-based immigrant visa petition.
In May 2011, just weeks before filing his naturalisation application, Singh was working as a taxi driver when he picked up a female passenger travelling home.
The passenger fell asleep during the journey. When she awoke, Singh was allegedly on top of her with a knife against her throat.
He threatened, bound and gagged the woman, blindfolded her, removed her clothes and raped her, the Justice Department said. The victim later escaped from the taxi and sought help from a person on the street at dawn.
Despite the attack, Singh concealed the incident during his naturalisation proceedings and became a US citizen in October 2011.
Convicted And Sentenced To 20 Years
Singh was later convicted in New York of first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping as a sexually motivated felony. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2014.
On August 26, the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a judgment revoking Singh’s naturalisation, according to the Justice Department.
The court’s decision means Singh is no longer a US citizen.
US Attorney General Calls It A Strong Message
US Attorney General Todd Blanche said Singh had fraudulently obtained citizenship by concealing his criminal conduct.
“Gurmeet Singh, a convicted rapist from India, is no longer a US citizen,” Blanche said in a statement. He added that the Justice Department would continue pursuing denaturalisation cases where citizenship had been obtained through fraud.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said Singh had unlawfully obtained the privileges of US citizenship by concealing his criminal acts.
US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr for the Eastern District of New York said the court’s judgment sends a strong message to people who obtain citizenship through deceit and reflects the administration’s determination to pursue denaturalisation proceedings when supported by law and evidence.
