Lucknow: French tourists, accompanied by their Indian friends, were roughed up and misbehaved with by locals in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur. When they went to file a case, the police tried to shirk responsibility and kept the group waiting for hours.

A few boys began to harass the Indian female who was with the French tourists' group, when the foreign nationals intervened, they were roughed up. The boys returned with their friends after the initial ruckus to further attack the group.

When the victims reached the Mirzapur police station to lodge a complaint, they were made to wait for more than three hours to get their complaint registered.

After initially being in denial about the incident, the police finally claimed that it wasn’t the foreigners, rather the Indian woman, who hails from Varanasi, was roughed up and molested. Even the SSP of Mizapur had denied the foreign nationals’ involvement in the case.

Tourism Minister KJ Alphons has called the incident deplorable and called for more sensitivity towards foreign nationals.

Speaking to News18, Varanasi ADG, Vishwajeet Mahapatra said, “A few Indians were accompanying the tourists. Locals tried to misbehave with an Indian girl and the French nationals tried to intervene. A case has been registered under Section 354 of the IPC and eight people have been arrested. If the police were negligent in their duties, strict action will be taken against them.”

This attack comes days after a German national and a Swiss couple were attacked in Sonbhadra and Fatehpur Sikri respectively. The incidents had prompted the Centre to seek a report from the Uttar Pradesh government.