This story is from March 5, 2015

VRINDAVAN: A US national from California, believed to be in her early 40s and found badly battered and bruised, has alleged that she was sexually assaulted by one of the sadhus in Vrindavan .

The woman, who was visiting Vrindavan for the Holi celebrations , had arrived in the city on February 26 and was living in a guest house, from where she had reportedly gone missing a day later. On Tuesday morning, she was found by the police with injury marks all over her body.

Officers probing the case said she was in an inebriated state when they met her and that on regaining consciousness she said that she had been sexually assaulted by a sadhu. A police complaint has been lodged and officials from the US embassy were in Vrindavan on Wednesday to take down details about the case.

Sources told TOI that the woman, a Krishna devotee, was found lying on the road in a state of shock with bruises all over her body. She later alleged that she had been kept captive by a “sadhu wearing a tulsi garland” who allegedly sexually assaulted her. Police officials escorted her to the Mathura district hospital on Tuesday evening, although her medical examination could be done only on Wednesday morning. Hospital sources said that she was in a state of extreme shock and looked “extremely frightened.”

Police officials, meanwhile, said that there was little conclusive proof to confirm her accusations. “The medical tests conducted so far have not suggested sexual abuse. However, we have sent her to Agra for further tests,” said Manjil Saini, SSP, Mathura. Another police official added that so far the woman has not identified anyone and is “very vague about the sequence of events.”

The woman’s story went viral on social media soon after her case came to light on Tuesday, with many commentators expressing doubt on the way the police was handling the investigations. Prominent city residents also expressed shock at the manner in which the foreign visitor was allegedly treated. Jagan Nath Poddar, convener of the NGO Friends of Vrindavan, said, “Vrindavan is now an international tourist destination but we neither have a tourist police nor women cops. To make matters worse, the policemen here don’t know much English either as a result of which precious time is lost due to communication gap. This incident shows that there is an urgent need to improve policing to make the city safe for women.”