Korean woman sexually assaulted in Kerala, Mumbai student raped in Goa; Are women tourists not safe in India?

Two shocking cases of crime against women tourists have been reported from Kerala and Goa recently.

A South Korean woman has alleged that she was sexually assaulted during her stay in Kerala’s Kozhikode.

According to Police, the woman, the woman was taken into custody by the security personnel at Calicut International Airport for not having the required documents. She had arrived in the city on a tourist visa in December and reached the airport to return to South Korea on Friday.

Later, she was handed over to the women’s cell of the police.

Following this, she was taken to Kozhikode medical college hospital for a medical examination after she showed signs of physical and mental disturbance. There, she told the doctor about the alleged sexual assault, reported TOI.

In a similar incident reported from Goa, a girl student from Mumbai who was on a vacation to Goa, was allegedly raped by the driver of a tempo traveller. The accused has been arrested. The tempo-traveller driver has been identified as Chandrashekar, a resident of Goa, said police on Monday as reported by ANI.

Nidhin Valsan, Superintendent of police (SP) of North Goa said that the victim was a part of a group of 10-14 young persons and she had arrived in Goa on holiday.

All the tourists hired tempo travellers to travel around the coastal state. The driver of the tempo traveller sexually assaulted the victim, police said.

“After receiving the complaint, an FIR was lodged under Section 376 of IPC against the accused in Women's Police Station and Panaji Police Station," the SP said.

Are women tourists not safe in India?

The incidents have raised a concern about the security of women tourists in the country.

A woman tourist from Hubballi, Karnataka who is on a visit to the national capital said “The fear that something wrong will happen always haunt us. Though there are males in our group, we are in fear of any kind of untoward incident with us.”

“We always keep the track of the women and girls at our homes and try to keep them in contact,” a man from the same group.

A biker in Pune said, “There’s not much tension in the daytime but if it's evening and we have to cross any secluded places, I feel scared. Besides, our family also keep us in contact over the phone when we are out at night.”