French nationals among tourists assaulted in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, December 11

A group of tourists, including French nationals, was attacked by miscreants near Lakhaniya Dari under Ahraura police station area of Mirzapur, 285 km from here, on Sunday causing injuries to three of them.

Speaking to this reporter, Mirzapur SP Ashish Tiwari recounted the sequence of events. He said Varanasi resident Riya Dutta, along with her sisters, uncle and a group of French tourists, a total of 10 tourists, had come to the waterfall at the picturesque Lakhaniya Dari in Mirzapur.

Here the group encountered some local ruffians, including a youth identified as Vivek who indulged in obscene talk with the girls, to which Riya and her uncle objected. There was a verbal duel and the youths left in a huff.

Later, when the group of tourists was returning they were once again accosted by the youths who now had more members.

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“They attacked the tourists with empty soft drink bottles and lathis causing head injuries to Riya’s uncle. The French tourists in the group who came to his assistance also suffered injuries,” said the Mirzapur SP.

Following the incident Riya Dutta lodged an FIR at Ahraura police station under various sections of the IPC--147 (punishment for rioting), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 354 (assault or criminal force to women with intent to outrage her modesty), and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment).

According to Mirzapur SP, while three youths were arrested on Sunday afternoon five others were hauled up by late night. Among the accused are Vivek, Abhishek, Jai Kisan, Kisan and Ravi.

The shocked group of tourists, including the traumatised French nationals, was treated at the Mirzapur district hospital and later left for Varanasi.

This is the third incident against foreign tourists in the past few months. A Swiss couple was brutally attacked in Fatehpur Sikri in October-end in which Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had to intervene before a criminal case was filed.

Last month, a German tourist was beaten up by a man at the Sonbhadra railway station in Uttar Pradesh as he reportedly ignored a man’s greeting.