London, June 18
A 50-year-old Indian-origin masseur has been jailed for 18 years for raping and sexually assaulting four women by offering them jobs at his massage parlour in London.
Raghu Singamaneni of London Road, Luton, was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police.
Raghu was unanimously found guilty on March 31, following a trial at the same court of rape and sexually assault involving four victims, which included girls between the age groups of 17 to 23.
"This man used his position of authority to carry out a string of sexual assaults on young women. Many of these women were lured by the hope of employment, but were then subjected to the most dreadful sexual assaults," Detective Constable Hussain Sayem, who led the investigation, said.
Raghu, who ran two massage parlours on Holloway Road and High Road, would advertise on a jobs app for women to come and work at the parlour, the court heard.
He would then make appointments to meet the women, get them drunk, and carry out sexual assaults.
The first victim, a 17-year-old who reported the matter to the police, had arranged to meet Raghu for an interview.
She told the police that she met Raghu at the parlour and he gave her a glass of prosecco (wine), which made her intoxicated and left her feeling sick.
Raghu then took her to a hotel where he carried out the assault, namely attempting to rape the woman and carrying out a sexual assault, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
A little over two weeks into the incident, the victim made a complaint at Tottenham Police Station and Raghu was arrested and released under investigation while further enquiries were made.
A second offence occured at the High Road parlour when Raghu asked a 19-year-old for a massage, and raped her after forcing her to drink vodka.
Enquiries revealed another offence occurred when the victim, a 23-year-old woman, arranged to meet Raghu after answering a job advert.
She arranged to meet him at a hotel in Golders Green -- when they entered the hotel room Raghu plied her with alcohol and later forcibly raped her.
The last offence was reported by a 17-year-old who applied for a job as a masseur and had spoken to a woman about an interview.
The woman told her to go to the hotel in Queens Avenue where she would meet someone to have a trial massage.
She met Raghu at the location, and they entered a hotel room together before he offered her drinks and drugs which she accepted, and was later raped by Raghu.
She then left the hotel and called a friend who then called the police.
Raghu was arrested after detectives gathered sufficient evidence from the women and subsequently convicted him of three counts of rape; two counts of assault by penetration and one count of attempted rape.
"We know Singamaneni is a serial offender and it is entirely possible he has attacked other women who have not felt able to come forward and report their ordeal to police," Detective Constable Sayem said.
