Sexual assault on a minor, shoplifting, and public disorder are the offences an Indian-origin man has been booked with in the United States of America (USA), the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has said.
The accused has been identified as Vodela Yashaswi Kottapalli, and has maintained that he was an undocumented immigrant, pending removal proceedings under US immigration law.
"Vodela Yashaswi Kottapalli, a criminal illegal alien from India, has pending charges of sexual assault and larceny in New Jersey," ICE posted on X. "We will keep him in custody pending removal proceedings."
The ICE has not disclosed the date of the arrest or any other details regarding the man. They, however, maintained that the man was a 'child rapist' accused of sexually assaulting a child under 13 years of age. They have also released a picture of the accused.
ICE maintained that Yashaswi will not be released throughout the legal proceedings associated with his deportation. The US law requires non-citizens, charged with specific serious crimes, to be detained in immigration custody throughout the judicial proceedings.
Yashaswi's arrest comes at a time when there has been a steep surge in immigration enforcement in the United States and a significant increase in the deportation of Indian nationals.
As of now, nothing much is known about Yashaswi's roots in India, and whether he is indeed an illegal immigrant or not. This is a developing story and will be updated as more details come in.
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