A Portuguese national has been arrested in Goa for allegedly raping a woman at a London pub five years ago. Jose Inacio Cota is facing extradition proceedings at Delhi court. Goa police’s crime branch on Tuesday arrested Cota a resident of Betalbatim. Crime branch SP Nidhin Valsan said that Cota was arrested in connection with the UK rape case.
The CBI requested Goa police to execute the arrest warrant and produce Cota before the extradition court in Delhi.
Police said that Cota allegedly committed the crime in May 2017. The month after that, he returned to India.
Cota was eventually charged with rape under Sec 1 (1) of the UK’s sexual offences Act, 2003. In June 2019, the magistrate’s court in the UK issued an arrest warrant against him, and consequently, an extradition request from the UK government was received by the ministry of external affairs.
Pursuant to the receipt of the request, an application under Section 5 of the Extradition Act was moved on behalf of the MEA to the court to inquire into the extradition request.
A non-bailable warrant (NBWs) was issued against him in July 2021 through CBI Interpol, which was received back unexecuted, with a report that he left his home in Goa in May 2021.
Police said that there is an extradition treaty between India and UK. (The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per the Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault).
Image Credits – Photo by Laliteshwar Suman on Unsplash
