Japanese woman harassed during holi, 3 Arrested

The Delhi Police on Saturday arrested three people, including a minor, after a video surfaced on social media showing a group of men allegedly harassing and groping a Japanese woman on Holi.

The video showed a group of men smearing paint on a stranger who appeared uncomfortable. It also showed one of the men smashing an egg against her head. The girl in the video is a Japanese tourist who was staying in Paharganj and left for Bangladesh on Friday, police added. 

She did not lodge any complaint or call the Delhi Police or her country's embassy, ​​an embassy official confirmed in an email reply, a senior police officer said. According to the police, the video is of Holi (celebrated on March 8) and was shot in an area of Paharganj in the national capital.

Earlier, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chairperson Swati Maliwal said she was issuing a notice to Delhi Police to examine the video and arrest the perpetrators. “Very disturbing videos getting viral on social media showing sexual harassment with foreign nationals on Holi! I am issuing notice to Delhi Police to examine these videos and arrest the perpetrators! Completely shameful behaviour!” Maliwal tweeted. National Commission for Women too tweeted drawing attention to the video.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Sanjay Kumar Sain said the video is being analysed to ascertain the details. “Prima-facie, on the basis of the landmark seen in the video, it seems to be from Paharganj. However, it is being verified on ground whether any such incident took place in that area or the video is old,” Sain said.

No complaint or call relating to misbehave with a foreigner has been received in Paharganj police station. The Japanese embassy was contacted and they said they don’t have any information of any such incident, the DCP said.  Police said their personnel have been asked to collect the details of Japanese nationals staying in Paharganj and also establish the identity of the people seen in the video through local intelligence.