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Indian-origin man jailed for rape in UK
According to the Metropolitan Police, Makwana committed the offences four years apart with strikingly similar methods.
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Himanshu Makwana / met.police.uk
An Indian-origin man was sentenced to nine years in prison by a London court for raping two teenage girls he met online.
Himanshu Makwana, 42, of Thurlby Road, Wembley, was convicted on two counts of rape and sentenced at Harrow Crown Court on Mar. 6. He will serve an additional four years on extended licence and has been placed on the sex offender register for life.
Also read: UK teen jailed 52 years for Southport girls' murders
According to the Metropolitan Police, Makwana committed the offences four years apart with strikingly similar methods. He posed as a younger man on social media to lure teenage girls before arranging to meet them and carrying out the attacks.
In 2019, Makwana used Snapchat to communicate with his first victim, an 18-year-old woman. After months of online interaction, he met her in person, drove her to an empty office building, and raped her. The case was reported at the time, but no suspect was identified.
In April 2023, he again used Snapchat to contact his second victim, who had recently turned 16. Posing as a 19-year-old, he arranged to meet her outside her school. After gaining her trust, he locked her in his car, revealed his identity as "Samir"—the fake name he had used online—and drove her to an abandoned commercial premises, where he raped her.
The second victim reported the incident the following day, leading to Makwana’s arrest on Nov. .27,2023. A witness had captured an image of the car used in the crime, which helped police track down the vehicle and identify him. A DNA sample taken during his arrest linked him to the previously unsolved 2019 case.
Makwana was charged with both rapes on Dec. 22,2023, and was remanded in custody ahead of trial.
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