British Woman Alleges Rape in Rishikesh
On Saturday March 27, a British social worker filed a police complaint at the Laxman Jhoola police alleging that she has been raped by two men-one, a foreigner and the second one being an Indian from Mumbai.
The Uttaranchal police, while denying that there was any interference or pressure from the British high commission for registering the complaint, said that the lady left for Delhi after refusing a medical checkup. Furthermore, she declined to appear before a magistrate for her statement to be recorded.
This incident is not the first occurrence of its type. Last year, a similar allegation of rape by a women foreigner traveler against a fellow foreigner traveler was done, which subsequently was found to be baseless.
Rishikesh is one of the most preferred destinations in India due to its popularity as a destination of spirituality, ashrams, yoga, the river Ganges, meditation, cooler climes and its ease of reach from Delhi-the gateway to India.
Rishikesh is highly recommended in all guide books as a must visit place. Hence, a huge number of travelers make a beeline for it.
Lest this worry our visitors to India, we hasten to add that traveling on your own in India is mostly safe.
This is well supported by the huge numbers of and couple women travelers to India especially from Europe.
However, to safeguard one's self it is important to know the possible causes of it and the simple precautions that can be taken.
One common reason is that compared to most Indians, the single female traveler is financially much better off. So she often can be recipient of unabashed vigorous male attention.
Women who have a hectic life style back home, without a companion, can easily let their guards down under the influence of the warmth of such an appreciative admiring attention.
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