KATHMANDU, Nepal– A 59-year-old American tourist was thrashed and ripped off in the daylight while she was hiking in a forest on the outskirts of the Capital Kathmandu, Saturday.
Carolyn Dowty of California, her fellow Linda Richter, 63, and a trekking guide, were on the Sundarijal-Chisapani-Helambu route via Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park when the incident took place at Sundarijal VDC.
According to police, an unknown gang comprising of four young men appeared out suddenly and grabbed her. They took the bag containing $ 1,000 and NRs 20,000 in cash, passport, debit card, credit card, among other valuables. The fled the scene before her friends came to rescue Dowty.
The victim tourist has lodged a report at the Metropolitan Police Sector at Sundarijal, Tourist Police at Bhrikutimandap, and the American Embassy in Kathmandu, according to police.
“All my money and clothes were in the bag, I am stranded as I don’t have any cash now,” she said in a report filed to agencies concerned. Dowty, who had earlier visited Nepal in 1979, 2011, and 2012 demanded that government should take such incidents seriously adding that no European and American will trip Nepal if such accident continues.
Dowty was planning to visit Langtang and Manaslu among other destinations. Meanwhile she reportedly not decided to cut short her plan to trek various destination in Nepal despite of robbery.
Due to the lack of tight security foreign tourists have frequently been looted or misbehaved in Himalayan nation, though tourism sectors has contributed more than 10 in the country’s economy. A Russian citizen was robbed of his money in the Thamel area just a year back.
Tourist Police Unit, Bhrikutimandap has received over 600 complaints from tourists in the past eight months.