A 36-year-old British national was sexually assaulted by a friend she met on Instagram. The incident reportedly took place at a hotel in Delhi's Mahipalpur area. The woman also alleged that a hotel employee sexually assaulted her.

Citing the woman's complaint, police said on Thursday that both men have been arrested on charges of molestation and rape under the Indian Penal Code.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Surendra Chowdhury confirmed the incident.

A senior police official said, "One of the two accused is Kailash Gautam, a resident of Gharoli in East Delhi, and the other is Mohammad Gulfam, a hotel maid. The accused were arrested within two hours of the complaint being filed."

The victim, who lives with her family in London, told police that she arrived in India on March 7 and went to Goa with friends for four days. Then she went to Delhi on March 11 to meet Gautam, a friend she had met on Instagram. The woman knew him as "Veer" due to their recent friendship on Instagram.

According to the woman's complaint, accused Gautam picked her up from the airport and then checked her in at a hotel in Mahipalpur around 11 am.

It is alleged that Gautam entered the hotel room and drank a lot of alcohol. When he was stopped, he started misbehaving with her. When she tried to leave the room, Gautam followed her.

Police say the hotel reception staff allegedly misinterpreted the incident, thinking the woman was simply drunk.

The hotel then sent a maid, Gulfam, to help. The man touched the woman inappropriately in the elevator. After the incident, the woman screamed, and the man was forced to walk away.

According to investigators involved in the case, Gautam allegedly assaulted her again before leaving the hotel.

The next morning, the woman left the hotel and took a taxi to the nearest hospital after feeling severe pain. She consulted a doctor at the hospital. The doctor informed the police after learning about the torture.

"First, Gulfam was arrested. Gautam was arrested after about 2 hours due to frequent changes of location. He may have assumed that the woman would file a complaint with the police," the police official said.

The officer further said that Gautam is unemployed and has studied up to class 12. "He used an online translator to chat with the woman in English on Instagram."

The High Commission was informed about the incident, but it is not known whether he is still in Delhi, said an official.