Rape Fears Plague Indian Tourism

by Reena Ganga on

Several countries have updated their travel advisories to warn tourists of the threat of sexual assault when traveling to India. The South Asian country has made headlines in recent weeks and months following a spate of rape cases involving travelers and locals alike.

In the most recent incident, a 25-year-old British woman threw herself off her hotel balcony to escape a sexual assault. The woman was sleeping in a hotel in the tourist city of Agra, when the owner of the hotel burst into her room in the middle of the night demanding a massage before trying to assault her. The terrified woman jumped from her first floor balcony, and is now in the hospital suffering two broken legs and head injuries.This latest attack comes on the back of the vicious gang rape of a Swiss woman last Friday. The 39-year-old was camping in the temple town of Orchha with her husband when a gang of men arrived, armed with sticks. The men beat up the husband before tying the woman to a tree and attacking her. According to police, the woman said she was raped by up to seven or eight men.

But it’s not just travelers who face the threat of being molested in the subcontinent. Three months ago, a 23-year-old Indian medical student was killed after five men raped her on a bus before throwing her from the moving vehicle in the Indian capital, New Dehli. The deadly attack sent shockwaves across the country, spurring protests and a call for tougher laws against sexual assault.

However, any changes are too little too late for the country’s tourism industry, which is bracing itself for the fallout. Both the UK and Switzerland have issued travel advisories warning about the rise in sexually motivated crimes across the country.

What do you think? Would you still visit India despite the latest attacks?

[Photo credit: Flickr user McKay Savage]

Atlanta TSA employee allegedly abducts, assaults woman and attempts suicide

by Tom Johansmeyer on

As if the TSA didn’t have enough to worry about this week …

Only hours before the busiest travel day of the year, news has gotten out that a TSA employee working at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta – the busiest airport in the country – attempted to commit suicide. It was a particularly grotesque situation, as he allegedly abducted a young woman, sexually assaulted her and gave her his suicide note to pass along.

Randall Scott King is reported to have snatched the woman from a MARTA parking lot last Wednesday night. He took her to his home in Hogansville, Georgia – around 50 miles from Atlanta – and allegedly assaulted her. King then let her go, bearing the suicide note he gave her.

When the alleged victim notified the authorities, King was found at his home with self-inflicted wounds – he’s now in critical condition at Columbus’ Regional Medical Center. He was a behavior detection officer with the TSA, where he has worked for close to five years, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

King and the woman he’s alleged to have abducted knew each other, according to airport spokeswoman Katena Carvajales: “They left the airport together voluntarily.”

[photo by hyku via Flickr]

FBI charges passenger for in-flight grabbing

by Tom Johansmeyer on

You need to keep your hands to yourself when you fly – it’s just that simple. Not only is it smart and appropriate, but it’ll keep you out of trouble. Well, that’s what Alpharetta, Georgia resident Ranchhodbhai Lakha learned the hard way.

This 61-year-old passenger faces a variety of sexual assault charges because he allegedly groped a 20-year-old woman on a flight from Dallas to Atlanta. On September 28, 2010, according to an Associated Press report, Lakha touched her while she slept, below her waist. She woke up during the act, and told Lakha to stop doing it. He tried again, and the woman notified a flight attendant.

The worst part: according to an FBI investigation, Lakha may have a history of this.

[photo by banspy via Flickr]