Japanese woman sexually assaulted during Holi festival in India

In a viral video, the tourist can be seen being groped by five or six men who forcefully smeared her face with colours

A young Japanese woman was sexually assaulted by a group of men during the celebration of the Hindu festival of Holi in New Delhi on Wednesday, international media reported.

In a video that has gone viral on Twitter, the woman can be seen being groped by five or six men who forcefully smeared her face with colours while screaming "happy Holi".

The video also showed a man smashing an egg on the woman's head as she was being shoved around. The woman could be heard saying "bye-bye" as she attempted to escape the crowd. Eventually, the woman slapped another woman who tried to get hold of her while she went into a narrow alley, Independent reported.

Japanese tourist in india pic.twitter.com/oAShCwdZ4j

— Sweety (@Sweety52216366) March 9, 2023

The incident reportedly took place in the capital's Paharganj neighbourhood. The video has sparked outrage about women's safety during the spring festival, where women have often complained about being harassed and groped by men under the pretext of applying colours.

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"No complaint or call regarding any misbehavior with any foreigner was received by the local police station," Delhi police said in a statement.

An email was sent to the Japanese embassy for details of the woman seen in the video, the police added. Authorities were trying to establish the identity of the men seen in the video through local intelligence, it added.

Swati Maliwal, the chair for Delhi Commission for Women, called the incident "completely shameful behavior" and said she is issuing a notice to Delhi police to arrest the perpetrators.

In a separate incident, a 65-year-old woman in the eastern state of Jharkhand was beaten to death by a group of six people for allegedly stopping them from applying colours to her son.