March in London calls for extradition of Indian suspect

London: Scores of people held placards and marched the streets of London, demanding the extradition of an Indian man wanted in the UK for over five years on charges of rape, murder, and a string of other sexual assault cases.

New Delhi-based Aman Vyas, the son of a wealthy Indian businessmen, is suspected by Scotland Yard of a string of late-night attacks in north-east London over five years ago when he was in the UK on a student visa. The 31-year-old has been on bail since 2011.

Opposition Labour party MP Stella Creasy, who led the march on Saturday, has also written to Indian high commissioner to the UK Navtej Sarna demanding Vyas' extradition to face the British court.

"It's worrying about whether they [the Indian authorities] are serious about dealing with this issue," Creasy told 'The Times'.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has authorised charges over the alleged murder and rape of 35-year-old Michelle Samaraweera, who was attacked and strangled in 2009 after she went out to buy milk while staying with her boyfriend in Walthamstow, north-east London.

The CPS has also authorised charges against Vyas over three allegations of rapes in the two months before Samaraweera's murder and the Metropolitan Police are investigating whether he is responsible for five other sex attacks.

"Officers are working with the Indian authorities," the Met Police said.

According to 'The Times', an application by lawyers for Vyas to dismiss the case against him was rejected by an Indian judge in 2012 but delays have meant that the British authorities have been unable so far to extradite him. Vyas now has bail until next month.

He was on a student visa in Britain when the alleged attacks took place. He was arrested in July 2011 boarding a plane at Delhi airport that was bound for Auckland, New Zealand and was granted bail in November 2011.

The family of Samaraweera said it was "disgusting" that= they had had to wait so long for justice. Ann Chandradasa, 44, one of the victim's three sisters, said: "We just want to see justice done. I just want him back."