ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Indian restaurateur in UK confesses to spiking woman's drink
Vikas Nath, however, claimed that he merely wanted to make the woman comfortable and had no intention of sexually assaulting her.
-
Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Wed, 04, Feb 2026
- 02:51 EST
- 13
Representative image / U.S. Department of Health
Vikas Nath, the owner of Benares restaurant in Mayfair, London, has admitted to spiking a woman's drink at a Mayfair club on Jan. 15, 2024.
63-year-old Nath confessed to adding gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) to a woman's drink while they were sitting in the rooftop garden bar at Mayfair's private members' club Annabel's.
Gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) is a colourless industrial solvent that, when ingested, is rapidly converted by the body into gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), known as the date-rape-drug. This conversion can cause effects ranging from drowsiness to memory loss, unconsciousness and, in severe cases, dangerous respiratory depression.
Nath claimed that he merely wanted the woman to relax and had did not spike her drink with the intention of raping her. CCTV footage from the club shows Nath adding the drug to the woman's drink from a bottle he was carrying on his person using a straw.
ALSO READ: Indian-origin couple caught in drug case
Despite his insistence that he did not spike the drink to rape the woman, Prosecutor Clark said Nath had exchanged text messages with a friend before the spiking incident in which he expressed a desire to have sex with the woman and said he was “frustrated” that it had not yet happened.
The prosecution also claimed that Nath had installed a motion-activated camera in the bedroom of his Knightsbridge residence, which automatically recorded and stored video footage. He admitted to previously using the device to secretly record sexual encounters.
The incident came to light after the club's staff spotted Nath's actions and alerted the woman. "They advised me that they were concerned that he put something in it,” she told the court.
The victim initially defended Nath against the club's staff, remarking that he wouldn't do such a thing. She told the court, "I remember sending him a message saying 'I'm sorry, I don't know what's happening'. Because I felt it was my fault. I didn't want him in trouble, I didn't believe it."
She also noted that she had initially met Nath when she was facing a personal crisis and Nath supported her through it.
The incident came to trial after Nath denied trying to spike the woman's drink in 2024. Nath's decision to plead not guilty pushed the case to trial and he was since allowed to stay at home with heavy restrictions, as per a 2024 BBC report.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
Related
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
E Paper
Video
Comments
Start the conversation
Become a member of New India Abroad to start commenting.
Sign Up Now
Already have an account? Login