The victim from California is in her early 40s.
AB Wire
NEW DELHI: A U.S. national from California, in her early 40s, was found severely battered and bruised in Vrindavan, a popular tourist and pilgrimage spot in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh in India and alleges she was sexually assaulted by a sadhu, or wandering holy man.
The unnamed woman was visiting Vrindavan to celebrate Holi and had been living in a guest house since February 26. When she went missing for over a day, police were alerted and found her on Tuesday morning, prone and covered in a swath of injuries, reported The Times of India.
Officers involved in the investigation told The Times of India that she was in an inebriated state when they met her and informed them of the sexual assault upon regaining consciousness. She alleged she was held captive by a “sadhu wearing a tulsi garland.”
Hospital sources told the Times that she was in a state of intense shock and looked “extremely frightened.”
Police officials are stating there was very little conclusive proof to confirm her accusations, although many social media commenters have expressed doubt over the way local police have handled the probe.
“The medical tests conducted so far have not suggested sexual abuse. However, we have sent her … for further tests,” said the Senior Superintendent of Police, Manjil Saini.
Jagan Nath Poddar, who runs the NGO Friends of Vrindavan, lamented, “Vrindavan is now an international tourist destination but we neither have a tourist police nor women cops. To make matters worse, the policemen here don’t know much English either as a result of which precious time is lost due to communication gap. This incident shows that there is an urgent need to improve policing to make the city safe for women.”