February 14-2014
Indian police last week arrested an Indian man on charges of raping a four-year-old Iranian girl.
Goan police said they arrested Ashley Crasta, a 32-year-old Mumbai man for the alleged attack on the girl on January 22.
Police inspector Paresh Naik said the girl told her mother about the incident, prompting the mother to go to the police.
“Police began search operations immediately and nabbed him,” despite the man’s attempts to escape on learning of the complaint, Naik said.
News reports said the Iranian woman and her child were vacationing in Goa and the woman had dated the accused man.
India’s record on sexual violence has been in the spotlight since protests erupted more than a year ago over the treatment of women following the fatal gang-rape of an Indian student in New Delhi.
Though cases of sexual violence against foreigners are not new, the attention on rape in the national and international media has shone a light on the frequency of attacks against women across the country.
The vast majority of the victims are Indians. But some of the attacks involve tourists, such as a 51-year-old Dutch woman who was gang-raped in the capital last month.
In December, Goan police arrested a yoga teacher accused of raping one of his holidaying German students.
Earlier this month, Britain and France revised their travel advisories for India to warn visitors about the risk of sexual attacks.
“Women travelers should exercise caution when traveling in India even if they are traveling in a group,” the British advisory posted on the government website said.
The French foreign office also advised its citizens to exercise “utmost caution” in an advisory updated.
But a sexual assault on a four-year-old is beyond the pale. n
