Indo-Canadian doctor held on drugging, rape charges

TORONTO - An Indo-Canadian doctor and his colleague have been arrested here for allegedly drugging and raping a young woman in a downtown hotel.

Amitabh Chauhan and Suganthan Kayilasanathan, both 32, who were arrested at the weekend, appeared in a city court Saturday to face charges of drugging and sexual assault. Their bail hearing was adjourned till Wednesday.

According to police, Chauhan and Kayilasanathan met the 23-year-old victim in a hotel bar. As the two men chatted with her while drinking, they offered to help her with some career advice.

Police said the two man and the victim then went to another city bar where they allegedly managed to mix a noxious substance in her drink. After drugging the woman, Chauhan and his friend doctor took her to a hotel where they sexually assaulted her.

Chauhan graduated from the famous McMaster University at Hamilton near Toronto. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario currently lists him as a postgraduate student at the department of plastic surgery in the same university.

Kayilasanathan, the other accused, is a family physician in the Toronto suburb of Markham.

Police have warned that the two accused doctors may have used drugs on other women. “There may be other victims and we would like them to come forward,” said the sex crimes unit of Toronto Police.

The accused will stay behind till their bail hearing.

Chauhan’s lawyer, Sean Robichaud, said Sunday, “All I can say is that Dr. Chauhan looks forward to contesting these allegations in court when the time comes.”

(Gurmukh Singh can be contacted at gurmukh.s@ians.in)