Even though officials in the tourism ministry stress that cases of sexual assault or rape of foreign tourists in India have declined over the years, we often have come across such incidents raising heads. It is anybody's guess that such dastardly acts not only affect the country's reputation, they also hit tourism by resulting in less number of foreign tourists visiting India.
Here are five cases of vicious sex attacks on foreign tourists in India:
- Gang-rape of an Israeli woman in Manali, Himachal Pradesh
Two men allegedly gang-raped a 25-year-old Israeli woman in the district of Kullu after offering her lift to Manali in July 2016. The police launched a manhunt in the district's tourist destinations to nab the youth and their accomplices who were part of the crime.
The woman was planning to travel to Spiti valley and, therefore, was looking for a vehicle that would take her there. She asked a few local men for help when she couldn't find any transport, following which the men offered her a ride to Manali.
The woman said in her complaint that two out of the six men raped her in an isolated area that she couldn't identify and then dropped her in Manali. She was admitted to a local hospital in a serious condition.
- Scarlett Keeling Rape and Murder:
British teenage girl Scarlett Eden Keeling was drugged, gang-raped and murdered near Goa's Anjuna Beach in 2008. The police had arrested two people -- Samson D'Souza and Placido Carvalho -- on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, sexual abuse and drugging.
The state police, who were investigating the case, had said that Keeling drowned in the sea because she was drunk. However, the case was later handed over to the CBI on the request of the victim's family. An autopsy was done, which revealed that Keeling was, in all probability, killed and might have been raped as well.
However, the Goa Children's Court, in September 2016, acquitted the accused of all charges much to the shock of Keeling's mother Fiona Mackeown who said: "I am shocked. I was not expecting acquittal. I was expecting conviction. I will challenge the order." She added that she had lost faith in the country's judiciary and that "if any international tourist comes to Goa and gets murdered, they have no hope for justice in this system."
The case brought to the forefront the state's beautiful beaches and laid-back lifestyle that has attracted travellers and tourists for decades. It also grabbed international attention.
- Indian court finds five men guilty of gang-raping Danish tourist in New Delhi
A 51-year-old Danish tourist was repeatedly gang-raped by eight to nine men in a garden close to Connaught Place in New Delhi in January 2014.
The victim was walking back to her hotel in Paharganj in the evening when she lost her way and entered the Railway Officers Club on State Entry Road near the New Delhi Railway Station, according to local media reports. She was then pushed into a small garden and robbed at knifepoint. The men, described as vagabonds and drug addicts, took turns to rape her with two of them alleged to have raped her twice.
The accused then helped her scale the wall and jump to the other side. She rushed to the hotel and informed the manager of the assault. However, she did not agree to undergo a medical test and went back to Copenhagen the next day.
The police said, a day after the assault, that they had arrested two of the accused while the rest had been identified.
- Indian police investigate gang-rape of American tourist in Dharamshala
A 46-year-old American tourist was allegedly gang-raped by two men in Himachal Pradesh's popular hill station Dharamsala in September 2015. She had come to India for the first time.
According to the complaint filed by the police against the two accused, the victim was drugged and raped while she was walking through a crowded market.
"She says she had gone out for dinner at around 9 pm. When she was returning at around midnight, someone grabbed her and then she fell unconscious. She said when she came to her senses, she realized she had been raped. She then went to the police station," Deputy Superintendent of Police Renu Sharma said.
- Japanese women allege gang-rape in Agra
Two Japanese women tourists were allegedly kept in confinement and gang-raped by three men in Agra in September 2007.
The police filed a FIR against the accused after the victims informed the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi about the incident.
The women had befriended two Indian men in Agra who took them to a hotel room, drugged and sexually assaulted them. The victims were confined to the room for three days where another man joined the other two and raped them, the complaint stated.
They were later put into a taxi heading to Delhi from where they took a flight back to Japan.
The police began investigating the case, which led to the arrest of the three accused, and claimed that they had confessed to having committed the crime. However, the three accused denied the allegations before the media only saying that they had given a body massage to both the women.
