WAVES OF TRAGEDY BATTER GOA

Crime casts cloud over paradise
12 foreigners die in first two months of ’08
Preetu Nair | TNN

Panaji: Goa has always had its share of tourist troubles—from the nudist beaches of the sixties to drug peddling and, more recently, paedophilia rackets. But the spike in murder and rape incidents in the last two months has darkened the mood in this otherwise charming and peaceful coastal state.

Under threat are the beaches. That sandy magnet which attracts solo backpackers, families and young groups from all over the world, has become the site of several unnatural deaths. It has forced the Goa government, which is in a perpetual state of political intrigue, to take a hard look at a scenario where there are five lakh tourists every year and only 68 tourist police personnel for assistance.

In the last two years, more than 126 foreigners have died in Goa. The figures of the Goa police’s Foreigners Branch reveal that 55 died during 2006, 59 in 2007 and 12 in the first two months of 2008. The death of 15-year-old British girl Scarlette Keeling appears to be only the latest in a string of crimes.

A 32-year-old British woman was raped on January 12 allegedly by an unknown person in Panaji.

Two British women were sexually assaulted by the owner of a resort, a Russian woman was attacked by a beach cafe owner in South Goa and a Finnish woman alleged that two local men threatened to rape her at a beach shack.
Two Japanese tourists Urano Asaki and Keigo Yashiki died of drug abuse early this month.

‘‘Sexual harassment in public places is routine, even if you’re with your partner. Men stare at you and pass lewd comments. The police are not at all helpful,’’ said American tourist Dakini Runningbear, who says she was drugged and robbed at Anjuna. But the police say foreign tourists cannot afford to simply point the finger. They allege foreigners have little respect for local values and come to the state only for trance parties.

But others feel that a zero-tolerance approach to drugs is the only way to get rid of the rot. ‘‘Rape and sexual abuse are interlinked with drug abuse. If the government really wants to control this, it needs to seriously take on the local druglords rather than watch helplessly,” said Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Nitin Kunkolienkar.