Rapist fled country after 12-year-old victim became pregnant

A rapist fled the country after his 12-year-old victim was found to be pregnant.

Balwinder Singh was brought back to Scotland to face justice after he was detained by authorities in Canada.

The 54-year-old raped the girl in summer of 2016 at a house in Edinburgh but the child later complained of having stomach pains.

Her mother took her to a family doctor in December that year where it was confirmed that she was pregnant, the High Court in Edinburgh heard.

Advocate depute Isla Davie QC said: “At this time the mother made it clear to the GP that the girl did not wish to continue with the pregnancy.”

Scans were carried out on the child and it was discovered that her estimated conception date was around mid June.

Ms Davie said it was then explained to the girl and her mother that because of how far along with the pregnancy she was a termination could not be carried out and she would have to continue and give birth.

Ms Davie said: “Due to her young age, the girl’s pregnancy was reported to the local authorities and police.”

The prosecutor said the rape victim presented as “a very young, naive, shy, little girl”.

An obstetrician who cared for the girl said her reactions were similar to those she had seen in victims of sexual assault.

The baby was fostered after birth and later adopted, said the advocate depute.

Police seeking to identify the father were able to obtain the Guthrie card for the baby to get a DNA profile.

They discovered that Indian born Singh, who had used his British passport to leave for Hong Kong before going on to Canada, had a son and through him found a potential match to the rapist.

In January this year Canadian authorities told the Crown that Singh was in custody after being picked up for an alleged shoplifting offence.

He was deported and arrested on arrival at London’s Heathrow airport. A DNA sample was taken from him and it was confirmed his DNA was present in that of the child.

On Monday, Singh admitted that on an occasion between June 1 and July 31 in 2016 he raped the 12-year-old and caused her to become pregnant resulting in the birth of a child.

Singh followed proceedings in court by a video link from Saughton prison.

The judge, Lady Scott, deferred sentence on him for the preparation of a background report.

She said she wanted a risk assessment carried out on him over sexual offending.

He was placed on the sex offenders register.