New Delhi: A woman from Japan who was manhandled by a group of men during Holi celebrations on Wednesday in the national capital termed the incident “unfortunate” and reacted to the horrific episode in a series of tweets.
“On March 9th, I tweeted a video of the Indian festival Holi, but after that, the number of RTs and DMs increased more than I had imagined, and I was terrified, so I deleted the tweet. We sincerely apologise to those who were offended by the video,” read her tweet roughly translated from Japanese.
“I had heard that it was very dangerous for a woman to go out alone during the daytime at the Holi festival, an Indian festival that I participated in, so I participated in the event with a total of 35 other friends. Unfortunately, this kind of situation happened,” she said further.
"It's hard to see in the video, but the cameraman and other people are helping us along the way. The place where the video was filmed is considered to be one of the most unsafe places in India, and I participated in the festival," she said in her tweets.
ALSO READ: 'Nothing Suspicious' Found So Far: Delhi Police Rule Out Foul Play In Satish Kaushik's Death
The woman said the “original Holi festival is a wonderful and fun traditional festival with the purpose of celebrating the arrival of spring by pouring coloured powder and water on each other and enjoying it regardless of skin colour or social status. (There are various theories).”
“I would like to express my sincere apologies for causing concern and anxiety in many ways, even though my goal was to convey the positive aspects and joys of India.”
“Really sorry,” she added.
The woman said the police “promised to strengthen their crackdown” and hoped that “harassment against women will decrease significantly at the Holi festival from next year.”
“And most of all, I love everything about India, I have been there many times and it is a fascinating country. It's a wonderful country that you can't hate even if you receive this incident.”
She concluded by saying India and Japan will forever be “Tomodachi”.
A video of the incident, which went viral on social media, showed a group of youths smearing colour on the woman, who appeared uncomfortable. It also showed one of them smashing an egg on her head.
While the woman did not lodge a complaint, the police took cognisance of the video and filed a case under Section 354, which seeks to punish acts that outrage a woman's modesty. The Japanese Embassy also confirmed with news agency PTI that she had not contacted the embassy either, said a senior police officer.
Three persons, all residents of an area near Paharganj, were apprehended in connection with the incident who confessed to their involvement.