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Dutch tourists brutally assaulted

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10 April 2018 08:26 am - 38     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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Some tourists including a Dutch male and two other women tourists were reported to have been brutally assaulted in Mirissa on Sunday morning when they resisted attempts to sexually assault the women.

The group had gone to a Surf Bar and Restaurant on the Mirissa beach where the assault had occurred. According to eyewitnesses, the group had been enjoying dinner and drinks at the Surf Bar and Restaurant on Saturday night when waiters at the restaurant had attempted to sexually harass the women.

“They tried to dance near us and groped us from time to time during the night” one the females said. The females had, however, resisted the advances and stayed together with the group. The attempts to sexually assault the females had gone on during the night from time to time.

“The night started fun until more and more local guys began to inappropriately touch the girls in our group and also other tourist girls at the bar. We complained about this to the guys working at the bar, but they laughed at us and continued to laugh every time a local guy harassed a girl. After a while, we decided to leave until things escalated between local guys and a group of tourists” Raffie Van Maren a 19-year-old Dutch national told Daily Mirror.

Maren says he attempted to inform the management throughout the night of the harassment to no avail,

Visitors to Mirissa said that the behaviour of the employees is a common occurrence. The waiters are youth from the area colloquially referred to ‘” Beach boys”.

The escalation of the incident to the assault had occurred after one of the locals had attempted to rub his penis on a females shoulder whilst they were seated.

“When I saw this I told the guy that this was unacceptable, and the girl, in shock, stood up and got really angry with him. Things started to escalate and while this was going on, we decided to get out of there as soon as possible. We walked towards the exit of the beach when we saw local guys running towards us. One guy we were with got punched to the ground and was repeatedly kicked and punched by 5 or 6 guys at the same time, all of these guys had been in the Surf Bar and Restaurant before” Maren said.

Thereafter a group of around eight to 10 locals had mercilessly assaulted Maren and two other females from Briton.

“One guy we were with got punched to the ground and was repeatedly kicked and punched by 5 or 6 guys at the same time, all of these guys had been in the Surf Bar and Restaurant before. One local started running towards me but before I knew I was on the ground getting punched and kicked at by eight guys at the same time. I was screaming and shouting but they did not care and kept going for at least ten minutes. My forehead was busted open as well as my right ear and my right arm” he said.

A female victim who was assaulted detailing the incident said that she and her friend were punched by the group after which 4 men had attempted to take her “to bed”.

“One man pushed my friend (names withheld due to safety reasons), pulled her hair back and punched her in the back of the head. In the commotion I lost our group including my friend, I walked further down the beach to try and find them and a group of four men approached me and told me to come with them one of them was insisting that he would "stay in my bed tonight" she said. The victim and her friend had thereafter been assaulted again by the group.

“ A man from the previous group of attackers came running towards us shouting " repeatedly and tried to punch my friend. He then pushed me forcefully to the ground and began kicking me”, the victim said.

Tourist around the area told Daily Mirror that attempts to sexually assault women are rampant in the area and assaults such as this occur from time to time.

“ These are tourists and they don’t want to go through the entire ordeal of the legal process in Sri Lanka. They are here for a short time and therefore the incidents often go unreported” an owner of one of the properties in Mirissa told Daily Mirror.

However, the two victims have lodged complaints with the Tourist Police via electronic mail.

Earlier a British National Khuran Shaikhy was murdered in 2011 and his girlfriend was raped by locals creating international media attention on the safety of tourists in Sri Lanka.


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  Comments - 38

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  • Karu Tuesday, 10 April 2018 08:35 AM

    Wonder of Asia

    mike Tuesday, 10 April 2018 05:47 PM

    now we never asked for LTTE guys to comment here. every country this happens incl our neighbors UK uas etc more rampantly. Srilankans much more civilized. having said that this is not acceptable

    Tinkiriya Wednesday, 11 April 2018 07:37 PM

    Correction Karu. PERVERTS of Dharmadveepaya!

    Warren Raed Tuesday, 10 April 2018 08:44 AM

    Wait till Prince Charles visits Sri Lanka the next time. Until then Sri Lankan politicians will not arrest anyone. Dam shame that the country is at this plight.

    Thomas Tuesday, 10 April 2018 08:45 AM

    What action the Law

    Pradeep Tuesday, 10 April 2018 08:46 AM

    Is this a licensed SLTDA bar? There should be tourist police in Mirissa and Unawatuna

    yahiya Tuesday, 10 April 2018 08:54 AM

    Very shame. Need severe punishments.

    Sam Tuesday, 10 April 2018 08:55 AM

    These area's should be heavily policed, just because these girls dress a bit less conservative does not mean they want this 'attension'

    Jay Tuesday, 10 April 2018 08:57 AM

    If Sri Lankan authorities cannot curb this menace and chase these buggers away, tourists should stop visiting these places. Let the locals suffer. I am a Sri Lankan and ashamed to have fellow wild citizens like this. This is why we need people like Gota.

    KPG Tuesday, 10 April 2018 09:44 AM

    Guess these local guys belong to that ARSUS KALLIYA.

    SN Wednesday, 11 April 2018 09:13 AM

    You meen Gota and the beach boys? People forget fast. Last incident it was an Municipal Council member and set of goons who killed a foreigner on Boxing day and took months to put him behind bars dure to international pressure.

    Sangaralingham Tuesday, 10 April 2018 08:59 AM

    Buddhism nation ignorant foolish barbaric behaviour.know many of your kith kin may be there.police action if what . Respect visitors your guests travelled far cost money time loss income. Behaviour fisgrace

    Kevin Tuesday, 10 April 2018 09:36 AM

    You may not even want to know where Mirissa is, but you are more interested about their religion.

    Jagath Leanage Tuesday, 10 April 2018 09:37 AM

    Oh my god . This is something very serious and very bad reputation to the country . Officials should impound maximum punishment to the culprits .

    punchi Tuesday, 10 April 2018 04:45 PM

    Simply RW will appoint aCommitee. The answer is hidden cameras everywhere!!

    Upul Arunajith Tuesday, 10 April 2018 05:02 PM

    Sure.....will you catch these sex starved perverts my friend?. This is no isolated incident. Happens regularly. Females cannot go in a bus....cannot work....They are thought to be sex objets. The counyry has now gone to the dogs

    Dee Tuesday, 10 April 2018 09:44 AM

    Southern people are better off in 'kurahan feilds' . They are not acceptable to society.

    WZ Tuesday, 10 April 2018 09:50 AM

    Another medal for our tourism. Who cares? All our leaders are busy with their own problems.

    Macham Tuesday, 10 April 2018 04:20 PM

    On our way very fast to achieve our targets in tourism sector. This bar should be ordered to close for employing rapists as their waiters. This is why we need a good minister for law and order.

    Dhammika Tuesday, 10 April 2018 04:46 PM

    Why does all this happen in the SOUTH . Last time it was murder in TANGALLE , Now this time it is at MATARA ?. Next may be GALLE . WHO KNOWS AND WHO CARES ! .

    Victor Tuesday, 10 April 2018 04:48 PM

    If Sri Lanka need tourism these perverts should be punished accordingly, most of all these frustrated beggars are produced by some ignorant politicians. Sri should take these matters very seriously before it becomes a cancer and lose revenue to the country

    Jesica Tuesday, 10 April 2018 05:52 PM

    Forget the revenue. This is utter disgrace.

    hamid Tuesday, 10 April 2018 04:50 PM

    ban the licence

    Sam Tuesday, 10 April 2018 04:55 PM

    Government needs to take action soon. Surf bar is known to have this kinda if ppl.

    Thushara Rodrigo Tuesday, 10 April 2018 04:58 PM

    Primary issue is no one wants to respect the law of the coubtry Institutional mechanism has been distorted finally no one is responsible and just another article. Any way big thank to corespondent at least you have done your job.

    Sarcasm Tuesday, 10 April 2018 05:00 PM

    a manifestation of our proud heritage of over 2000 years.Maha like sanskrutiya rate bagayakma lingika asahanakarayo.ekane Google valin cup gatte sex hoyala

    Manike Tuesday, 10 April 2018 05:09 PM

    What is the minister of tourism doing ?

    Amila Wednesday, 11 April 2018 09:05 AM

    you dont know what he did few days ago, it was flaring up in the social media.

    Disgusted Hotelier Tuesday, 10 April 2018 05:18 PM

    The reality is, these beach boys rule the coastal areas of the south, the security guards, managers of the hotels and even the local police are scared of these beach boys, as they cannot live there after taking any action against them. So, be practical, send Police units from different areas to take action.

    Ranga Tuesday, 10 April 2018 06:02 PM

    These so called beach boys are a menace to society and need to be eradicated immediately. This is surely not the first instance and its a shame how the ministry of tourism is not taking steps with the authorities to improve the security for tourists both domestic and foreign.

    JennyC Tuesday, 10 April 2018 06:05 PM

    Really ashamed of this situation. Want to warn everybody of this place. I cannot find the exact place on trip advisor. I wonder whether Daily Mirror can direct to the right restaurant.

    Channa Wednesday, 11 April 2018 09:04 AM

    A nation of gropers....

    Eye opener Wednesday, 11 April 2018 11:01 AM

    It is high time the tourist police should in night petrol vigilant till dawn ,where everthe usually get such occurings till dawn

    isw Friday, 13 April 2018 09:33 PM

    We really need to focus.A tourist comes on holiday and is harassed. The nature of harassment is not relevant. The right to enjoy ones freedom is a must. This is totally unacceptable. Do we not have anyone to handle this ?So far, over the years no government has shown any interest in the safety of tourists. Isn't there anyone ?anything, we can do ? This is a very serious situation.

    *foreign female* Friday, 13 April 2018 10:32 PM

    It isn't even about dressing conservatively. I am a UK female who visited SL for a month, travelling all over. I am very pale so I wore long sleeves, loose trousers and a scarf the whole time- I was frequently asked if I was Muslim because of how covered up I was. Yet I was followed on multiple occasions- in Colombo, Batti, Matara- groped twice on buses, assaulted- the harassment was never-ending and completely soured my experience. I feel for the native women who have to put up with this every day. Tourism is not going to pull SL back from the brink in a country that has so little respect for women.

    Amanda Saturday, 14 April 2018 09:50 AM

    This is such a shame. My family were going to holiday in Sri Lanka for a month in December. I am now seriously considering another destination.

    John Sunday, 15 April 2018 02:26 PM

    Amanda, Sri Lanka is a very expensive place to come to as a foreigner, with hotels that are charging first world prices for 2nd rate service.If you factor in the risk of being attacked or harassed you are better off elsewhere.

    Geman Saturday, 21 April 2018 05:36 PM

    Sri Lanka = Too loud, too dirty, too expensive.


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