Indian-origin man stripped off US citizenship after 15 years of rape conviction
PTC News Desk: An Indian-origin man, who had been a US citizen, was stripped off his citizenship following his conviction in rape case.
Gurmeet Singh, 55, a taxi driver, reportedly kidnapped and raped a female passenger at knifepoint in New York in 2011. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted of the violent assault in 2014, according to the US Justice Department.
In a statement, the US agency said Singh had concealed his criminal past while applying for US citizenship, which he obtained months after the attack.
In a statement issued by the US Department of Justice on August 31, 2026, Attorney General Todd Blanche said: “American citizenship is not a shield for criminals.”
“Gurmeet Singh, a convicted rapist from India, is no longer a US citizen. He concealed a rape and kidnapping during the naturalization process, and a federal court has now revoked his citizenship. This Department took this case across the finish line, and we will continue to move expeditiously on denaturalization referrals. Fraudulently obtained citizenship will not protect criminals from justice,” the statement said.
Case against Singh
Singh, who is originally from India, entered the US in February 1992 on a temporary visitor visa. Although he was supposed to stay for no more than six months, he remained in the country without legal permission for several years. In June 2000, he obtained permanent residency through a family-based immigration petition, according to the US Justice Department.
In May 2011, shortly before applying for US citizenship, Singh was working as a taxi driver. During a ride, a female passenger fell asleep. When she woke up, she allegedly found Singh on top of her with a knife held to her throat.
According to US authorities, Singh threatened the woman, tied her up, gagged and blindfolded her, removed her clothes and sexually assaulted her. The woman later managed to escape from the taxi and ran into the street at dawn to seek help.
Singh allegedly hid the crime during his citizenship application process and became a US citizen in October 2011.
He was later convicted in New York of first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping as a sexually motivated felony. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
- With inputs from agencies
