Indian man convicted of raping woman after luring her to hotel with promise of work

LONDON: An Indian man who lured a woman to a London hotel on the pretence of offering her employment has been found guilty of rape, with police warning he may have been a serial offender.

Gurwinder Singh (37), an Indian citizen residing in Northolt, was convicted at Southwark crown court last week of rape, attempted rape, assault by penetration, two counts of sexual assault and one count of common assault. He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on April 15.

The court heard that Singh posed on WhatsApp as a woman offering work. He told one woman that he could get her shifts as a care worker and asked her to meet at a hotel in Paddington on June 21, 2025, where she would be helping look after a sportsman with injuries.

Singh met her at the station saying he was a care assistant who would be working alongside her. At the hotel he left her in a room and said the patient would arrive soon. Shortly afterwards, Singh returned to the room claiming he was the “sportsman” and undressed, telling her he needed a massage. She refused and he became violent before assaulting and raping her.

The woman ran out and got in a taxi.

That evening, she received a call from Singh telling her the incident had been recorded and would go viral if she reported it. Despite that, she reported the incident to police the following day.

Detectives tracked Singh down to the same hotel on Aug 11, where he was arrested. Police seized devices from his home which demonstrated he had pretended to be the woman the victim was communicating with.

Officers discovered that Singh booked rooms at the same hotel on more than 100 occasions between Dec 2024 and Aug 2025. They believe there may be other women who were subject to his crimes and are keen to hear from women in the Indian community who live in Hayes or Southall as they believe he may have targeted a specific community.