Australian woman tourist killed in Delhi

iqbal

My wife and I were on the same Cathay flight last month.

(minor edit to clarify what I wrote in a rush)

Scary stuff and very upsetting.

Here's the link to the full story.

mdchachi

Scary indeed.

The headline here says "Clueless Foreigners Make for Easy Targets" but I don't know what else you can do. Pre-paid taxis are supposed to be relatively safe?!
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...how/566869.cms

indiamike

Sad news.

Doing some research under Google and I found this book The Spirit of Learning by Dawn Emelie Griggs, part of the Spirit of Learning website. Also a small bio here

Very sad indeed.

fat freddy's cat

This is so sad.
Unfortunately there are crazy people the world over.I think the article header in the Times of India was unfair in the extreme though,seems to me she did the right thing getting the prepaid taxi and all.

SitaParityaga

I agree FFCat, and check this out, reprinted from Indiamike's reprint of recomendations by the Delhi Police. "Prefer pre-paid Taxi Booth for hired transportation, since it is governed by DELHI TRAFFIC POLICE.Ê In this system you have to pay in advance for Taxi Fare which is already approved by Delhi Transport Authority, Govt. of India for each destination in Delhi"
Times of India were cruel to say "Clueless Foreigner"

Rob_The_Pom

The is a tragic case. The links under the original story about Mrs Griggs don't exactly make for happy reading either.
There are sh1t people the world over and I get the impression that Delhi is certainly no worse than London or New York in terms of violent crime.
The Times of India headline is a disgrace. It seems to pass some of the blame onto the victim - who followed the advice of the police. Disgusting.

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Samsara

How shocking and awful. I really want to read the "clueless foreigners" article but I get a blank when I go to that link.

iqbal

Just PM'd you the article...

Samsara

Thanks, iqbal, and this article makes interesting reading for any woman planning to go to Delhi.

I get the impression from papers like Hindustan Times and India Times that women both Indian and foreign are being much more subject to harrassment than in the path. But also, it must be kept in mind that Delhi's population has just exploded in the last 10 years and it is a magnet nowadays for poor people looking for opportunities to immigrate to plus for the criminal type.

I noticed another headline on India Times today - Delhi, crime capital of India? inviting a reader discussion. I saw a headline like that on Hindustan Times too a few months back inviting reader discussion.

I suppose Delhi has just become a too big city with a really mixed population and incidents like that will happen. But when I went to New York I have to admit I was terrified when I took the subway or even the bus! Actually I got terrified as soon as I got off the plane! It was like being on another planet, a really beautiful side and this really grim side. And I was too scared to go to L.A. though I had the chance.

I guess bad things can happen anywhere. But "clueless foreigners" is unfair. A prepaid taxi is recommended and she was an experienced India hand so it's very disturbing. This puts me off prepaid taxis. I guess a pickup service like Namaste India Tours or from a hotel is what I would go for after reading that article!

Tomi

Sorry, Iqbal, it must be upsetting. I can't get the article either; the Times of India is extremely slow tonight and I gave up. But that headline sounds like the extreme of callousness. Of course I haven't read it, but blaming the victim is utterly unacceptable, and the word "clueless" doesn't just suggest innocence, but incompetence as well. I'll try again tomorrow, as I can't believe the Times can sink that low.

On edit: I finally got into the web site. Nothing in the article blames the tourist(s). It's just an incompetent choice of title, but not some attempt to blame the victim. Bad writing, not bad motives.

volga_volga

A small comment on the efforts by the Delhi Traffic Police - or airport authorities - to improve safety of foreign travellers.

Last time when I landed in Delhi, at domestic airport, I had a pick up arranged by my hotel. A few hours later I got a call from the airport asking me to confirm that I safely got to my hotel (for what I know it could have been anyone but he introduced himself as someone from the airport - and he didn't try to sell me any city tour).

Apparently they recorded the driver's name and address and my name and hotel address when he was entering the airport to pick me up. (a bit late for a check up but nevertheless...)

Dr Funkenstein

Poor woman.

Using the word 'clueless' in that article is at best a poor choice of words. At worst, it's totally offensive.

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Alan D

Very sad news.

This is not the first time this has happened at Delhi Airport. A couple of years ago when we were in Delhi a male Japanese backpacker was murdered. His body was found in a Delhi suburb and he had been last seen getting into a taxi at the airport.

The Airport Authorities and Delhi Police need to sharpen up and allow only vetted experienced drivers to transport foreign tourists into the city. No doubt they are at this moment discussing issues.

For the moment it seems that single travellers, especially women, are at risk. In these circumstances it would be advisable for single travellers to team up with others, have a reputable tourist agency or hotel pick you up, or even take the EATS bus.

Tomi

I toyed with the idea of writing a letter to the editor, because any notion that the victim might be partially guilty is a very bad signal to send, even if the article didn't mean to.

But then I ran into this other letter to the editor (I have cut it down), objecting to the insensitivity of a cricket headline:

"Your headline 'Karachi Captured' (Mar 14) was in our humble opinion very insensitive..... because of the hospitality and warmth the people of Pakistan have extended to our team and the visiting Indians and with the grace with which they accepted defeat.

The comradeship seen on, and, more importantly, off the field was quite unprecedented.....Then why should we be so undignified in victory and so irresponsible about handling such a sensitive issue? By giving the whole thing a war cry kind of twist, especially at a time when both India and Pakistan are trying to put the past behind and extend a hand of friendship towards one another, you have done a great disservice to the people of both the nations."

It seems that it's The Times who is clueless.

But the more important issue, besides the danger to tourists itself, is whether there is much of the "she-deserved-it" kind of feeling among the people in Delhi. I know that that is not the case in Miami, where Europeans have been killed now and then, and the local population is outraged and worried about their image.

indiawise

i don't think that anybody in delhi or for that matter anywhere else, feels that the crime was deserved. The title 'clueless foreigner..etc' seems to me to be an atempt by the newspaper to portray a person from outside, a guest to this country, who is not expected to be very or too savvy about how the touts work and how the local people/police etc must be extra sensitive to their needs.
I expect and really hope that they get their act togather at the airport finally. It was shocking and is very sad.