Click to play videoThe media storm continues over Scarlette Keeling’s death as new evidence reveals that she was drunk and high on drugs.
Fifteen-year-old Scarlette was found dead under suspicious circumstances on Anjuna beach in Goa on February 18. Scarlette’s mother Fiona had left her daughter alone in Goa.
Politicians say that foreign tourists who come to Goa should behave more responsibly hence CNN-IBN show Face The Nation brought up a question: Are foreign tourists in India victims of an image trap?
On the panel to try and answer the question were Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Laxman Naik; Convener, Goa Bachao Abhiyan, Dr Oscar Rebello; and German businesswoman and a tourist in India, Cordula Bruenske.
Who is to Blame?
Foreign tourists in India, particularly in Goa, have to be responsible for their own safety, say the politicians. Many have also tried to shift the blame to Scarlette’s mother saying she should have been more careful than leaving a teenaged girl all by herself in a foreign country. Scarlette was also reported to have been leading a ‘fast’ lifestyle. But with reports of police cover-up in the Scarlette murder case, it is obvious that nothing can justify a crime like murder.
Shantaram Laxman Naik denies that there were attempts at a cover up. “In fact the Chief Minister ordered a second post mortem in the case. Therefore, there was no cover up on the part of the government,” the Rajya Sabha MP reasons.
The doctor had clearly said that it was a homicide, but the authorities did not take that seriously and only said that Scarlette was drunk.
“Though I live in Delhi, I have been told that post-mortem reports are practically the same,” said Naik.
A fast lifestyle?
As being someone who cares about preserving Goa, Dr Oscar Rebello feels that there is a king of tourist sub-culture in Goa of fast and loose living, which may get fuelled by tourists like Scarlette. He admitted it is a problem.
Accorfing to Dr Rebello, the middle-class went through the life and death anxiety. Thousands of oppressed, marginalised and underprivileged women from India were brutally murdered and raped, but nothing could really justify the alleged rape and murder of Scarlette.
“Rape and murder are an unfortunate part of society, but the point is how have the authorities responded?” Dr Rebello questioned.
“If there is sincerity, then it has to be responded to, because if that sincerity is noticed then we could have authorities respond firmly to a crime,” said Dr Rebello.
Those hippie women
However, a foreign woman is perceived as someone who is a hippie and leading a certain kind of lifestyle, so that is the reason the police do not take their matters so seriously.
Cordula Bruenske, however, did not feel she was being treated differently.
“They (people) look at me and it is normal. Every body would look at a foreigner in other countries, as well. But that doesn’t mean that they can do whatever they want with me,” Bruenske said firmly.
She added that she was careful not only in India but just about everywhere, for being a foreigner.
But now it seems that Scarlette’s mother Fiona is being made to appear as though she is to blame. She abandoned her 15-year-old daughter in Goa and went to Karnataka while the daughter was high on drugs.
Naik clarified that though Fiona was not to be blamed, she should have been more careful.
Given the kind of tourist culture that exists in Goa and considering that Goa also has a conservative culture, the addressing the issue appears necessary.
Dr Rebello said that Scarlette was only a speck of a much larger diseased state of Goa hence he suggested that now the entire malaise needed to be treated.
The reputation of Goa was at stake as people were associating Goa with drugs, sex and paedophilia, Dr Rebello declared.
“We need to crack down as a society. There is no need for a blame game. In spite of blaming the doctor, police or the government, all of us have to get together and question ourselves whether this is the way Goa wants go forward,” suggested Dr Rebello.
Calling the tourism police
A white woman is seen as someone who is fast and loose. If she is seen wearing a strappy top, then men see her as fair game.
But Brunske maintains she has not suffered anyone’s misbehaviour.
“Though I had heard of Scarlette’s (case), something like that never happened with me,” she said.
Naik said that the way tourists behaved was also offensive.
“About 10 –15 years back, there would be 10 to 20 women lying naked in the beaches, sleeping calmly and that was the scenario about 10 years ago. However, after the government took action, we don’t see that now,” he said.
Naik also explained that since there were good tourism policies and tourist infrastructure was introduced, about 14 lakh tourists came to Goa.
Rave parties and drunken driving were not new things but it also depended on intelligent policing. Similarly, the tourism industry also needed policing.
Dr Rebello agreed and said that currently, tourism was on a path of suicide.
“We need to protect Goa’s heritage and we need to keep Goa going and keep selling Goa’s unique selling points for the rest of the world. But there has to be self-policing by the tourism industry to keep Goa a safe place,” he concluded.
Final SMS poll results: Are foreign tourists in India victims of an image trap?
YES: 94 per cent
NO: 6 per cent
CNN-IBN Editorial
There are many cases of foreign women being molested or assaulted in India, perhaps because they are sadly still seen as fair game or as examples of a fast and loose lifestyle. Such sexual violence remains an unaddressed issue in India and urgent policing is necessary. Yet also necessary, perhaps, is the realisation that India is a conservative and patriarchal country and it is always better to err on the side of caution when visiting here.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.