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Journalism of Courage
On Monday, the Rajasthan Police arrested two men, one on charges of raping a foreigner in Udaipur and another for 8220;molesting8221; another foreigner in Pushkar.
According to the police in Udaipur, Parvat Singh, manager at the Pardesi Guest House there, raped a British journalist on December 23. When the 40-year-old woman from London called for an extra blanket, the manager entered her room and finding her alone, raped her. He later fled from the guesthouse.
When contacted, SP Gupta said, 8220;We received a complaint about the incident from the High Commission which forwarded us the mail sent by the victim. We immediately nabbed the accused.8221; Sources confirmed that the woman, who was on a holiday in Udaipur, has now shifted to another hotel.
In another incident, Satyanarayan, a 35-year-old priest in Pushkar, was arrested after a US tourist filed a complaint of molestation against him. According to Hanuman Vishnoi, the investigation officer, 28-year-old tourist had gone to the Savitri Mata Mandir, which is located on a hillock, with Satyanarayan for a pooja. 8220;The victim has alleged that the priest pounced on her when she was clicking pictures, but she managed to push him away and run down the hillock. She was in a state of shock when local artist Ashok Tak helped her and encouraged her to file a complaint,8221; Vishnoi said.
This is not the first time that such complaints have made headlines in the state. The Alwar rape case where a German was raped by a fellow student and the rape of a foreigner by a guide in Udaipur three years ago were among those that made the headlines. Molestation of foreign women, particularly in Pushkar, has become a regular feature. A few months ago a foreigner was molested by the driver and conductor of a Haryana Road Transport Service bus, when she was on her way to Pushkar from Ajmer.
