Russian molested on beach - and by doctor

Molested on a Goa beach last week, a Russian woman has now told Russian consular officials here that she was molested against by a male doctor at a government hospital where she was sent for medical examination after the first assault.

Speaking to IANS, advocate Vikram Varma, legal advisor to honorary Russian Consulate in Goa, also said that there were massive procedural delays in the filing of the first information report by police and the hospital authorities vis-a-vis the medical examination process.

Varma said that according to the victim, a Russian tourist who was on a seven-day holiday, the doctor examining her molested her by pressing her breast at the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), near Panaji.

She had been taken to the state-run facility after being molested and robbed on Baga beach, 20 km north of Panaji early Saturday.

"The victim has informed the Russian consulate of the matter. What has disturbed her is the way her breasts were examined by a male doctor at GMC," Varma said, adding that a formal FIR had not been registered yet.

The victim has also informed the consulate that the molestation and robbery FIR was registered after 24 hours, which is against a directive of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

The Goa home ministry controlled by Parrikar had issued a circular asking police not to delay registering offences involving crimes against women.

Varma also said that getting through formalities following the robbery and molestation took almost a day.

"She was visiting only for a week and after this incident she has spent a whole day nearly at the police station and GMC," the lawyer told IANS.

The victim was walking along the popular Baga beach when unknown persons slapped her, tore her clothes, molested her and snatched her gold chain worth Rs.33,000 Saturday.

Neither police nor hospital authorities were ready to comment on the incident.

This is one of the first reported body crimes against a foreign female tourist this season, which officially began mid-October.

Goa's beaches have been under the spotlight for being unsafe to foreign tourists, especially women, in recent times.

Russians account for the largest contingent of foreign tourists to Goa, which sees three million tourists every year, out of which half a million are foreigners.