English Holiday maker found dead In India

cable guy

Holidaymaker found dead in India

An English man on holiday in India has been found hanged.
Stephen Bennett, from Cheltenham, was found in the jungle near the town of Roha on 12 December, the Foreign Office said.

The 40-year-old, who lived alone, is thought to have been on a week-long holiday in India and was due to have returned home before Christmas.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said Mr Bennett's death was being treated as murder by Indian Police.


Full Article from the BBC

Nick-H

Hello Cable Guy, welcome to IM

Curious that you should bring us bad news as your first post.

Hope to hear something more chearful from you

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

sald

There's a news item in one of the papers today about this. Apparently, the tourist molested / attempted to molest a woman in some village. The lady's family then beat him to death and hanged him. Very very unfortunate.

anindya911

As per the Times of India, Mumbai,

So lets give the departed soul benefit of doubt, please

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ColinT

The claim about molestation has been rebutted in certain quarters so let's wait and see what really happened (if that is indeed possible).

I just saw the previous post and would like to echo that.

cable guy

I fail to see why this being my first post is revelant.

I read this news story and felt it deserved a place in the news section (since no one else had posted anything about it).

I certainly don't think you ought to make me feel bad about that.

steven_ber

99% of the time, a member whose first post is a news item normally goes on to cause the moderators a lot of problems, hopefully you belong to the 1% that don't.

Welcome to indiamike.com

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How to get helpful replies to your transport/Itinerary questions.



Train information.

just_an_old_boy

The various reports from sundry newspapers do no suggest any ulterior motive on part of the victim. So it is all about so called 'misinterpretation'.
Lets look at the larger issue.

A village woman sees a male starnger approaching her and she immediately concludes that the guy is about to rape her. What the f@#k? Now the menfolk get hold of the guy and beat him to death?

My questions: Did the villagers understood what the Englishman was trying to explain? Did he even touch the woman? Even if the villagers were sure that the Englishman was at fault, why didn't they hand him over to the police?

The poor chap got down at an unscheduled stop. It is very easy to see what must have happened. The train must have started and moved off without him noticing it.

What do we usually do in such situations (considering the fact that most trains do not even stop at those small stations)? Look for a bus? Etc.

The point is the fate might have befallen on any of us. Indian city folks included.

A personal anecdote: 6 years ago my younger brother and a colleague of his were sent to some remote part to conduct some survey. A few questioning here and there and the duo were rounded up and tied with ropes.
The villagers took them to be intelligence operatives. What kind of village mentality is at work there? Does any intelligence org goes into the countryside to harass its people or do they go there to deal with security issues?
Luckily the place in the question was in my home state and my bro was able to explain them in their mother tongue and even offered them to take them to our ancestral village in the nieghbouring district to prove his identity. Matter settled.

The point I'm making is that it is not safe for foriegners to roam about wherever they like, particularly rural India.
Behind the seemingly friendly and inviting facade, rural India is brutal, xenophobic, narrow-minded, a place where lynch mob rule prevails. News and current affair watchers should look at other reported such instances to get the larger picture.

Nick-H

It's all hypothesis.... but that's not to say it isn't right!

I wouldn't knock at a random door in a strange village in the middle of the night anywhere in the world! Not even (actually, especially not in London ) in my mother country.

If I found myself on the wrong railway station at 2.00am in India I'd do what I suspect most IMers would do in the absence of bus, nearby hotel or retiring room or access to waiting room: I'd find a corner and spend the three or four hours before dawn trying to keep an eye on my bags and trying not to sleep.

sirensongs

Do the villagers understand the concept of due process? No. But then, the police probably don't understand it either...so they waste no time and take "justice" into their own hands, unfortunately.

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lotus blossom

i've been watching this story. it seems that mr. bennett called home to alert his family to couple of suspicious guys he met in goa. it was said that he feared going to his room and that his family tried, to get in touch with someone in india to help, to no avail (go figure)

it seems that, at this point, the villagers may be pawns in the story, that they may have nothing to do with his death?

whatever the story, its a mighty f'ed up incident

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Not all who wander are lost

GoanCanuck

When I first read this news report I felt there was something not quite right about the version of events that took place. Looks like there is more to the story than what the police are saying. From the Daily Mail,

A friend of the family told the Mail: "He rang on December 6, just three days into his holiday, to say he was very worried about two men he had met on the beach.

"He said they were being smarmy and he was not comfortable with them. They knew he was on his own and he was worried about going back to his hotel room.

"In a later phone call, he said he had been taken against his will. Stephen's parents could hear two men speaking to him in the background in broken English. They were snapping at him."


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1811

GoanCanuck

Some more details http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/jan/05sld1.htm

soma

thanks for that article goancanuck, it was an interesting read.

I think its unfortunate that people are ready to assume the worse about the villagers. i guess they represent the "other." i also find it sad that the only thing that does not suprise me about this case is the allegation the police maybe framing the villagers.

as sirensongs said the concept of "due process" may still be very foggy in india especially as it pertains to unsophisticated and rural peoples.

Nick-H

Very informative article.