India’s image as a hospitable destination for foreign tourists is in peril because of regular reports of sexual attacks on women. A horror story was recently reported from Karnataka’s Kodagu district, where an American tourist was drugged and raped in a homestay. The wifi was disabled, and she was barred from calling the police or leaving the resort for four days. She eventually managed to reach out to the US embassy and file a complaint. The accused cook and homestay owner are in custody, and the operator’s tourism licence has been cancelled. In March last year, an Israeli tourist and a homestay operator were raped; one of their three male companions who were pushed into the Tungabhadra river near Hampi drowned. The accused trio was sentenced to death. Other chilling tales include a Spanish travel influencer gangraped in Jharkhand and her partner assaulted, and a British tourist violated in her Delhi hotel room. The 2008 drug-rape-murder of Scarlett Keeling on a Goa beach is a reminder of India’s abysmal history of sexual crimes in tourist hotspots.
It is a matter of shame that travel advisories issued by Canada, the UK and the US warn their citizens of the possibility of sexual assault in India’s tourist areas and advise women not to travel alone. An American woman solo traveller recently shared online that she felt unsafe in India, giving only Kerala and the northeastern states high scores on security. While the spectre of terrorism continues to cast a shadow on foreign tourism in India, such word of mouth can be devastating for the labour-intensive sector. The danger for tourists is aggravated in an era when online bookings can be led by fake reviews, without the advantage of actual local knowledge.
The picture is complicated by the proliferation of informal transactions. Post the Kodagu incident, Karnataka has cracked down on illegal homestays. Tourism-dependent states such as Goa and Uttarakhand have strict licensing systems, but they cannot deter fraud or assault beyond a point. While a dedicated tourism police force and a multilingual helpline have been set up, a more robust support system is necessary. Tourism relies heavily on trust. Rape and exploitation of foreign guests must be treated as blots to be urgently removed in a nation that prides itself on the spirit of ‘Atithi devo bhava’.