Anger in India over video of Japanese teen being sexually assaulted in Delhi during Holi
Fury in India over video of Japanese teen being sexually assaulted in Delhi during Holi: Activists slam ‘utterly disgraceful behaviour’ as dispute reignites over women being subjected to ‘Holi harassment’
- Three men arrested over video showing woman being groped during Holi celebration
- It is the latest case of what has been called ‘Holi harassment’ in India
A Japanese woman was sexually assaulted by a group of men during the celebration of the Hindu festival of Holi in the latest case of what has been called ‘holi harassment’ in India.
A video of the teenage tourist has gone viral since the attack on Wednesday, in which five or six men and boys can be seen touching her.
The incident reportedly took place in the Paharganj area of the capital, which is popular with Western backpackers, including the British.
Three people, including a minor, have been arrested in connection with it.
In the video, the men forcibly smear the woman’s face with colors and even crack an egg on her head as they push her between them, all while shouting ‘happy Holi’.
A Japanese woman was sexually assaulted by a group of men during the celebration of the Hindu festival of Holi (file image)
The young woman is seen trying to cover her face and escape from the aggressive gang, raising her arms to protect her face.
She can be heard saying ‘bye-bye’ as she tries to evade them in the harrowing footage, eventually slapping a man across the face as he lunges at her before slipping down an alley.
There have also been reports that the victim has already left India and an email has been sent to the Japanese embassy requesting his details, police said.
The local police station did not receive any complaints about the misbehavior of any foreigners, the Delhi police said in a statement.
The video has sparked outrage over the safety of women during the Hindu festival, which is celebrated when people throw colored powder and water at each other.
For years, women have complained of being harassed and groped by men under the guise of applying colors.
Swati Maliwal, chairperson of the Delhi Women’s Commission, described the incident as “utterly disgraceful behaviour”.
She said that she is sending a notice to the Delhi police to look at the videos and arrest the perpetrators.
In another shocking incident at Holi celebrations this year, a 65-year-old woman was beaten to death by a group of six people in Balbadda, Jharkhand.
The mother, named Bucchi Devi, had been trying to stop perpetrators applying colors to her son Murari.
Both were beaten by the group until they lost consciousness, and soon after Murari woke up to find his mother dead, according to reports.
The incident reportedly took place in the Paharganj area of the capital (pictured), which is popular with Western backpackers, including the British (file image)
Holi bullying has sparked angry protests in recent years, with women drawing attention to the darker side of the festival of colours.
In 2021, two teenage girls were gang-raped in a forest area in Tripura, northeast India, by eight men who were later arrested by local police.
The girls, aged 14 and 15, were celebrating the party when they went for a walk with two of the defendants.
In 2018, there were student protests in the Indian capital, with many taking to social media to highlight how uncomfortable the festival can be for women.
In addition to being colored without consent, the women described how water balloons thrown at them can fill with disgusting substances, as well as eggs and mud thrown at them.
A post by student Tolino Chishi, claiming someone had thrown a ‘balloon full of semen’ at him, went viral, sparking anti-bullying protests on the University of Delhi campus.