Police arrest Indian-origin student on charges of multiple sexual assaults in Canada

A 22-year-old Indian-origin student has been arrested by police in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) after being charged with alleged sexual assault following multiple incidents.

According to media reports, the arrested student was identified as Arshdeep Singh, 22, of Brampton.

Peel Regional Police (PRP) said Singh lured the alleged victims into his vehicles by posing as a rideshare operator.

According to a PRP press release shared on Wednesday (November 27), the victim was of Indian origin and spoke Punjabi.

According to the police, the accused’s victims were three women. The first incident occurred on November 8 around 7 a.m. when he approached a woman standing at a bus stop in Brampton.

The release said Singh, who was driving a black sedan, “impersonated a ride-sharing operator.” He took the woman to a location in the town of Vaughan where she allegedly suffered sexual assault.

In a similar way, after 45 minutes, the man lured another woman from the bus stop and took her to the same place where he committed the crime.

The third case occurred on November 16 at around 6:45 a.m. local time, when he again approached a woman at the bus stop, lured her to another vehicle and sexually assaulted her.

According to PRP investigators, the same suspect is behind all three incidents.

“In all three incidents, the suspect spoke to the victims in Punjabi,” the statement said.

Police charged Singh with multiple charges, including three counts of kidnapping, sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon, sexual assault by strangulation, robbery and two counts of menacing.

According to media reports, Singh came to Canada as an international student in 2022.

In a press release, the police appealed not to accept unsolicited transport offers from unknown people.

“Thank you to the team of dedicated investigators who worked around the clock to make this arrest. We will continue to do everything we can to stop gender-based and sexual violence and hold those responsible accountable,” said PRP deputy head Nick Milinovich.

(With the participation of the agency)