Rajasthan: foreigner alleges rape, another ‘molested’

According to the police in Udaipur, Parvat Singh, manager at the Pardesi Guest House there, raped a British journalist on December 23. When the 40-year-old woman from London called for an extra blanket, the manager entered her room and finding her alone, raped her. He later fled from the guesthouse.

Meanwhile, the journalist visited a local doctor for medical help and also filed a complaint with the British High Commission via an e-mail. She also met Udaipur SP Govind Gupta on Monday to file an official complaint. Within hours the Udaipur police arrested 30-year-old Parvat, a resident of Golguba, about 40 km from Udaipur.

When contacted, SP Gupta said, “We received a complaint about the incident from the High Commission which forwarded us the mail sent by the victim. We immediately nabbed the accused.” Sources confirmed that the woman, who was on a holiday in Udaipur, has now shifted to another hotel.

This is not the first time that such complaints have made headlines in the state. The Alwar rape case where a German was raped by a fellow student and the rape of a foreigner by a guide in Udaipur three years ago were among those that made the headlines. Molestation of foreign women, particularly in Pushkar, has become a regular feature. A few months ago a foreigner was molested by the driver and conductor of a Haryana Road Transport Service bus, when she was on her way to Pushkar from Ajmer.