Act fast on Goa rape or face advisory: Russian envoy

NEW DELHI - Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin Thursday threatened to issue an advisory to his citizens not to travel to Goa if the Indian authorities did not act fast to punish the rapists of a Russian minor girl in the beach resort.

The Russian envoy also stressed that he had faxed his country’s view in the matter to Home Minister P. Chidambaram and expected the Indian government to act fast.

“Three such cases have happened in recent days. If no action is taken we shall have no option,” the Russian envoy told reporters here when asked whether Moscow was planning to issue a travel advisory in the wake of the rape of a nine-year-old Russian girl Tuesday.

The Russian girl was allegedly raped at Arambol beach where she was bathing with her mother.

The envoy was speaking on the margins of a function to felicitate former governor and union minister Bhishma Narain Singh on receiving the Order of Friendship, the prestigious Russian state award.

Kadakin, however, clarified that so far there has been no such advisory to Russians. “We want to see how the events unfold in Goa because we expect the Indian state to take immediate steps to get the culprits involved in this terrible crime.”

The envoy said the Russians never thought that such a thing could happen in India.

The criminals behind the crime should be “caught and severely punished”.

The Russian government would also see how the state government reacted, he said.

Asked whether the Indian government had shared with him any information that had been passed on to it by the state government, he said the embassy had not been informed of anything in the matter.

In a strongly-worded statement, the Russian embassy Wednesday had demanded the severest punishment for the rapist and warned that if such crimes targeting its citizens are not checked, it will ask Russian tourists to stop visiting the tourist resort.