A DANGEROUS child rapist who fled to India on the eve of his trial, remains at large.

Paedophile Vijesh Kooriyil failed to turn up at Oxford Crown Court on May 31 to face trial for repeatedly raping a young boy between 2010 and 2011. The night before he was due to appear, he flew from Heathrow to Dehli.

Almost a month on, the Home Office and Thames Valley Police are still processing paperwork while he roams free.

The 29-year-old business manager was sentenced in his absence and handed an extended sentence of 18 years after a jury unanimously found him guilty of both rapes on a boy aged six or seven while living in Oxford.

Thames Valley Police spokesman Gareth Ford-Lloyd said the force and Crown Prosecution Service had "completed the relevant documentation" and handed over the case of the Home Office.

He said the Home Office would work with the Indian authorities for an extradition, allowing Kooriyil to be brought back to the UK to face justice. He confirmed Kooriyil had not been detained.

However, the Home Office said they could not confirm or deny an extradition until a person had been detained.

Police said Kooriyil had been arrested in Scotland, but was released on unconditional bail because he had had no previous cautions or convictions.

His passport was not seized because his court bail was unconditional.

He was summonsed by post to attend Oxford Crown Court for trial and attended on November 13 last year to deny both charges.

Judge Peter Ross condemned the Crown Prosecution Service for only charging Kooriyil with two rapes, when he was sure the abuse was much more sustained.

The court heard Kooriyil subjected the boy to repeated rapes, sometimes two or three times a week.

Judge Ross branded the abuse "appalling" and said Kooriyil had "degraded and humiliated" the boy. He found Kooriyil a danger to the public, despite being of good character with no previous convictions.