Elmont man extradited from India, faces charges in rape of girl, 14

An Elmont man has been extradited from India to face charges in the 2009 rape of a girl who was walking to school, the Nassau district attorney's office said Monday.

Amit Singh, 32, was captured in July 2011 as he tried to board a plane to Thailand but fought extradition for more than two years, District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a news release.

The victim, 14, had been raped March 11, 2009, and six days later she picked out Singh from a photo array presented by police, authorities said. But Singh boarded a plane out of the country the day before the photo presentation, Rice's office said.

DNA evidence from the rape came back as a match for Singh, whose DNA profile was in the system from a felony drug conviction, officials said. "Mr. Singh subjected this innocent young girl to unspeakable horrors, both physical and emotional, before running to the other side of the world to avoid the consequences," Rice said.

Singh was held without bail after being arraigned Monday on grand jury indictment charges of first-degree rape, second-degree rape, first-degree sexual abuse, third-degree abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. He faces up to 25 years in prison. His next court date is Oct. 11. His attorney could not be immediately reached.

The victim, a Sewanhaka High School student, was walking past his house about 10 a.m. when Singh tried to coax her into his Rosalind Avenue home, prosecutors said. When she refused, Singh grabbed her right hand and forced her into his home, where he raped her in a bedroom, authorities said. Singh then drove her to school, where the teenager told a teacher what had happened, the district attorney's office said.

INTERPOL issued an international warrant for Singh in February 2011, and federal officials notified Nassau authorities in July that year of his capture. Since then, he had been imprisoned in New Delhi, but Indian officials agreed this month to extradite him. U.S. marshals traveled last week to pick him up, Rice said.