Varkala cops snub tourist who alleged rape bid by surf coach

Thiruvananthapuram: A woman tourist, who approached the police with an abuse complaint, said that she was given the cold shoulders by the cops at a police station at Varkala in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram district.

The police were reportedly reluctant to file a case based on the woman’s complaint and came up with bizarre explanations on why the case was beyond their jurisdiction.

A native of Mumbai, the woman alleged that even though she waited at the police station for hours, the cops told her that they were busy with the visit of the vice president for a function at the popular tourist destination.

The woman in her complaint said that the surfing trainer at the Varkala beach tried to sexually assault her. Soon after the alleged incident that happened on Saturday noon, the woman went to the Varkala police station with the complaint.

Though the police asked her to give in a written complaint, they refused to file a case even after she waited for four hours at the station. The woman said that the police were trying to go for a settlement, by pointing out that he was a family man with wife and kids.

After the police reiterated that they were busy with the visit of Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, the woman left the police station. The very next day, she went back to the police station with the complaint. However, then cops came with another bizarre logic - "As the incident happened under the water, we cannot take action. You should complain to the coastal police."

Then again, she waited for two hours but none even made any attempt to hand over the complaint to the officer concerned. The woman said it was unfortunate that such an incident happened in Kerala.

Ironically, the police inaction has been flagged even when the government is going ahead with initiatives to make public spaces more accessible for women. The state had observed Nirbhaya Day on Sunday, when hundreds of women walked the streets of Thiruvananthapuram in the dead of the night.