Bangalore: Woman recounts horror of ‘molestation’ by diving instructor under water

The girl wrote: “We were all told to give our instructors the ‘OK’ signal underwater every few minutes to let them know that we were alright. We descended underwater… and finally reached the sea bed. My instructor had my breathing equipment in his control and my oxygen tank in his hands. But as we swam across the corals… at the very bottom of the Arabian Sea, his hands were no longer on my diving equipment.”

“First one hand, then the other and finally both… I tried to shake his hands away from my body but in vain… I looked in his direction in despair but couldn’t see him. After all, he was right behind me with both his hands groping me… He then signalled asking me if I was okay. I signalled with an ‘OK’. 12 meters below sea level, with my breathing equipment under his control, I didn’t dare show any fear,” she wrote.

Describing the alleged ordeal, she said that after unsuccessfully trying to break out of his clutches “all I could do was signal him with an ‘OK’ because more than anything else, I wanted to get back to the boat and to my friends, safe and sound. For the next 40 minutes, he took complete advantage of my silence and my helplessness…”

She claims once back on the shore, she confronted the diver with what he had done and with the support of her friends made him confess. She also claims that she has a video of him confessing following which she lodged a police complaint.

The Byndoor Police confirmed the incident and said that the diving instructor identified as Direndra Ravath, 45, a native of Uttarkhand working with Dreamz Diving School, was arrested and later released on bail.

The police said that the woman, a native of Andhra Pradesh, initially approached the police in Murudeshwara on January 26 and filed a complaint.

The Murudeshwara police registered a case of molestation and later transferred it to the Byndoor police station for further investigation. The Byndoor police arrested Ravath and remanded him to 10 days judicial custody before he was released on bail. “We have filed a chargesheet against the accused and the trial has begun,” a police officer said.

Police said that another student had filed similar charges of molestation against the instructor with the Malpe police in Karnataka.

The victim alleges in the blog that despite charges against him, Ravath continues to operate as a diving instructor by adopting a new identity. Byndoor police said that despite a ban, scuba diving was being conducted along the Karnataka coast.