He forcefully kissed me, he groped my breast, and they tried to break into my room, these were a few incidents when Foreigners Faced Sexual Harassment in India. Here is how it can affect us economically.
A Korean vlogger, Hyojeong Park, was harassed on the streets of Mumbai, India, in the middle of the live stream by two men. In the video, it can be seen that a man is forcing the girl to sit on his bike and dares to touch and kiss her without consent. However, she managed to walk away without escalating the situation and decided to return to her hotel. But the boy did not stop there. They followed her on the bike. However, someone who happened to be watching the live stream nearby came to help.
The clip from the stream has now been viral on the internet. The incident was not taken lightly by either police authorities or by netizens. Twitterati came down in support of Hyojeong and demanded stringent action against the harassers. The Mumbai police tracked the culprits down. The police have registered a case of Mohd Naqib Sadarialam Ansari, 20 and sexual assault on its own based on the video. The accused were identified as Mobeen Chand Mohd Shaikh, 19.
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The victim Shaming
Where one section came in support of a South Korean vlogger, others commented that this happened because a Korean girl was being “too friendly.”
The victim woman in her tweet wrote, “Last night on stream, there was a guy who harassed me. I tried my best not to escalate the situation and leave because he was with his friend. And some people said that it was initiated by me being too friendly and engaging in the conversation. Makes me think again about streaming.”
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Incidents When Foreigners Faced Sexual Harassment in India
Indian police investigated 89200 cases of sexual harassment in 2021. That equals one in every six minutes. This was neither the first nor the last incident when foreign tourists suffered harassment in India.
They grope me from my breast!
Travel Vlogger Skype was on a trip to India. She waited long to visit Varanasi on Holi, which turned out to be her biggest mistake. Many suggested she not step out on the Holiday, but the vlogger wants to experience Banaraswali Holi.
It was only 2 minutes of her being on the streets of Varanasi, and she had already experienced sexual assault. Alleged by Skype a person wrapped his arm around her and tried to grope her breast intentionally. This happened when Skype was accompanied by 10 of her friends.
However, the female traveller still loves India and said this was the only bad experience.
I locked myself in my hotel room for 48 hours
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Another YouTuber Jordon with 674000 subscribers, shares her experience of sexual harassment and how she locked herself in her Delhi hotel room for over 48 hours just to keep herself safe from the hotel staff. The staff continuously banged on her door to get in and tried every tactic to enter her room. However, brave Jordon did not fall into any trap and did not open the door. She finally managed to sneak out at 3 am when she was not stalked by hotel staff.
In the 18-minute-long video, she also shared another incident when harassed in front of her boyfriend on the streets of India.
Crime against foreigners
There are several cases when foreigners were sexually harassed by locals.
According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, a total of 409 crimes against foreigners, including rape, murder and theft, were lodged in 2019. Of the total cases, Delhi registered 123 cases, while Maharashtra had 48 reported cases.
The incidents mentioned above were experienced by vloggers who go back to their country with such a horrific experience. Although they do say that India is a great country to visit, a perception about India has undoubtedly been modified at a global pace.
Not only vloggers but any foreign guest visiting India also goes back with a filthy experience is our failure as a country. Their different skin colour doesn’t prove that they are easily available and may not mind being harassed.
(Writer’s note: I often overheard people saying,” Inke yaha ye sab chalta hai.” No boss! Yeh kahi bhi nhi chalta hai.
In 2021, India’s travel and tourism industry contributed around 178 billion U.S. dollars to the country’s GDP. A large part of foreign currency flow depends on our tourism sector.
India is a land with the concept of Atithi Devo Bhava! And such incidents are not just tarnishing the image of India but also disrespectful to our culture.
