UK, France warn India travellers to watch out for rapists

Following the growing incidence of gang-rapes in India, both France and the United Kingdom on Friday issued travel advisories to their citizens asking them to be careful while travelling to the country.

The alert comes in the wake of the alleged rape of a 51-year-old Danish woman in New Delhi, which apart from being the national capital is also acquiring an unsavoury reputation as the 'rape capital' of India – though other cities like Mumbai are not far behind.

"Women travellers should exercise caution when travelling in India even if they are travelling in a group," the UK government said in its advisory, which came two days after the Danish woman was and gang-raped and robbed near New Delhi Railway station, where she said she was seeking directions after having lost her way.

"British women have been the victims of sexual assault in Goa, Delhi, Bangalore and Rajasthan and women travellers often receive unwanted attention in the form of verbal and physical harassment by individuals or groups of men. Serious sexual attacks involving Polish, German and Danish women travellers have been reported so far in 2014," the advisory said.

The French government has also issued an advisory asking its citizens to exercise caution while travelling to India. "Several recent incidents show that foreign women or expatriates can be the victims of such incidents in India," the advisory said.

While fair-skinned Western women are particularly attractive to the sexually deprived Indian male, locals are not spared either, as was seen in the heinous gang-rape of a medical intern in New Delhi in December 2012 – a case which still shocks the conscience of educated Indians - and the more recent gang-rape of a journalist in Mumbai.