Crime on the Beach

EDITORIAL
Posted on 2008-10-13
THE government of Goa it appears has decided to take on the problem of crime against tourists seriously, as never before. The plain speak of the Home Minister, Mr Ravi Naik, which he made within forty eight hours of the death of the Australian tourist, John Kelly after a fight in the Club City restaurant, at Calangute, gives the impression that the state government is no more willing to have the stigma of ‘Incredibly Unsafe Goa’.
If the statistics with the Foreigner’s Branch are to be believed at least 27 foreign nationals have died in Goa since the beginning of the year 2008.Of these, eleven were UK nationals. The British Commission claimed that nearly four died of unnatural causes. The others were from Sudan, Germany, Australia, Russia, Japan and Sweden. Statistics reveal that 2.2 million foreign tourists visited Goa in 2007 of which 2,00,000 were British nationals. The industry is already apprehensive that this financial year will witness a 20 per cent decline in the number of foreign tourists basically due to this crime factor.
In this background, Mr Naik’s assurance to take care of the security needs of the tourists and every tourist arriving in Goa would receive prompt response from the state police, would instil confidence in them. But it is not clear to what extent the police administration will be able to keep this promise made to the tourists. The fact remains that the death of foreigners has been staring at Goa. Statistics also reveal that if 55 foreigners died in 2006, their number was 80 in 2007.While the number of Britisher’s was 32 in 2007 it was 28 in 2006. Ironically, what is shocking is nearly fifty per cent of the cases are yet to be solved.
It is this laxity of the police that has primarily given a bad name to Goa. The police may argue that it was incomprehensible for them to keep track of all tourists, but how do they explain the delay in investigating the cases. Promptness of the police reflects the genuine concern of the government. Unfortunately this element is missing. Besides cases of sexual assaults do take place, but unfortunately many go unreported. Blaming the tourist for his death does not give a good name to the Goa police. This is basically against the basic ethics of police functioning.
The Goa police could evolve a functional relation with the TTAG and other tourist agencies and through them should issue ‘dos and don’t’s’ for the tourists. Mr Naik has rightly advised the visitors to abide by the rules of the land and exhibit a dignified and decent behaviour. They cannot afford to wander around at any part of the time, throwing caution to the winds. What is however needed is the police should strengthen its intelligence gathering mechanism. If it has a strong intelligence network in the crime world, the criminals would not dare to commit any crime. In fact this would have a broader implication. While this ensures protection to the tourists, it would also work as a deterrent for the persons who have been of late robbing people in the garb of police.