Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday directed managements of all hotels in Goa to register their staffers with the Labour department after two foreign tourists, both women, were assaulted in their hotel rooms by staffers.
The second of the incidents, which have put the spotlight back on the issue of safety of women tourists in the state, occurred near the popular Mandrem beach stretch, where the Dutch tourist who had just arrived in Goa was staying on her holiday. The accused Abhishek Verma, a 27-year-old native of Uttarakhand, crept into her tent accomodation and was trying to assault her, before he raised cries for help. Verma was later arrested.
Commenting on the incident during the ongoing budget session of the state assembly Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that hoteliers should exercise caution and follow laid down norms while hiring staff.
“Hoteliers should obtain Goa Labour Cards for their staff while they engage them in service. This will help to have their permanent address saved with the Labour Department. Don’t engage staff with criminal records. We have seen that hotel staff are involved in such crimes. Police are investigating this case,” Sawant said.
“Being a tourist state, such incidents should not take place. Police are taking action but hoteliers should also take measures,” the Chief Minister also said. Sawant also said that the accused Verma had been booked under sections 452,354,307,506(II) of the IPC.
In another incident, which occurred just a week ago, two persons had assaulted a Russian national in her hotel room posing as maintenance personnel.
Published 31 March 2023, 15:39 IST