British tourist raped in Goa, accused held

ASSAULT CCTV footage helped police identify and nab the man

ACCORDING TO INFORMATION OBTAINED UNDER THE RTI IN APRIL 2017, AS MANY AS 245 FOREIGNERS DIED IN GOA SINCE 2005

PANAJI: A 30-year-old man was arrested hours after he allegedly raped and robbed a British tourist in South Goa on Thursday. Police said Ramachandran, who is from Tamil Nadu’s Tanjore, was held from Margao railway station when he was attempting to leave Goa.

Inspector Rajendra Prabhudesai said the 42-year-old tourist was allegedly assaulted around 4 am.

She was returning to the place where she was staying after a train she was supposed to take from Canacona was delayed, when Ramachandran allegedly accosted and violated her.

South Goa police superintendent Arvind Gawas said clues from CCTV footage from around the scene of the alleged assault helped them arrest Ramachandran.

“The accused saw the woman walking alone… he pushed her to a paddy field on the roadside near a telecom company’s office. He first hit her in the eyes due to which her vision blurred for a few minutes and then raped her,” a police officer said citing the woman’s complaint.

He said Ramchandran later allegedly fled with her three bags and ₹20,000.

Prabhudesai said the woman has been a regular visitor to Goa for the last 10 years. She would arrive on a long-term visa and spend between six to eight months in South Goa, which is a tourism hub.

The alleged rape is the latest in the crimes against foreigners in Goa. According to information obtained under the Right to Information Act in April 2017, as many as 245 foreigners died in Goa since 2005. The figures came to light a month after a local resident, Vikas Bhagat, allegedly raped and murdered an Irish tourist by smashing her head with a stone in March 2017.

In 2015, a 22-year-old Finnish national was found dead with multiple skull fractures and brain hemorrhage in Canacona. The police concluded that tourist died from a fall. The Bombay high court bench at Goa in July this year pulled up the police over a “faulty and prejudiced” investigation and “meandering towards a predetermined end” in the case. It later handed the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation in August.