American woman ‘raped’ in Banjara Hills

A 30-year-old American woman working with the Clinton Foundation was allegedly raped at knife point in a posh area of Hyderabad early Wednesday morning.

The woman told the police that at around 4 am, an unidentified man broke into her Banjara Hills penthouse and raped her at knife point. She tried to call the watchman but he was missing. She lodged a complaint with Banjara Hills police station at 8 am.

“She said an unidentified person broke into her house while she was asleep. When she woke up and saw him, he attacked her, pinned her down and tried to tie her hands. When she started shouting, he gagged her and threatened her with the knife and sexually assaulted her,” Banjara Hills SHO H Sudarshan said.

The incident has shocked the police and public as Banjara Hills is the address of Hyderabad’s elite — N Chandrababu Naidu, Mohammed Azharuddin, P Gopichand and Sania Mirza are among those who reside here. Several foreigners working in top IT companies and corporates also live in Banjara Hills.

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The woman was living alone in the penthouse since October 2009. Banjara Hills Police said the penthouse could be reached by a staircase on the outside. Sniffer dogs could not trace the scent beyond the main road, indicating that the attacker may have come in a vehicle.

“So far we have not got any concrete leads on who might have attacked her. She is at present taking treatment at a private hospital. Based on the description given by the woman, we have prepared sketches and a massive manhunt has been launched,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (West Zone) Stephen Ravindra said. The police suspect involvement of a watchman who left sometime back
The police initially said that the woman had also claimed that her attacker robbed her of American and Indian currency amounting to Rs 5 lakh. However, the loss of valuables or cash has not been mentioned in the FIR. Ravindra said they were only investigating the sexual assault angle and that the woman later denied that she was robbed too.

The assault on a foreigner living in the city prompted Commissioner of Police A K Khan to pay a visit to the victim. He is personally monitoring the investigation.