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MUMBAI: A Russian tourist has suffered horrific injuries after he was beaten up by a mob when he mistakenly rang a temple bell in a coastal village in Goa.
A report in Daily Mail says the 28-year-old Sergey Bogdanov, who had settled temporarily in the coastal village of Mandrem in northern Goa, went to the local temple. He took some pictures of the temple and then rang a bell.
But as per the local traditions, this bell should be rung only on some sacred days or when someone dies.
So when the bell rang, a mob from the village rushed to the temple, dragged the Russian in the streets and beat him up with sticks, disfiguring his face.
The report quotes him as saying, “Some monks dragged me away from the mob but they then didn’t help me at all, and I had to make my own way to the local medical centre where the doctors had heard about my apparently sacrilegious act – and they also refused to help me other than giving me a few bandages.
“My wallet and my money had vanished and I had no alternative but to go back to my accommodation in agony. I managed to get a telephone message to my mother who flew over immediately but I need paperwork and money to fly back with her.
“My poor mother almost had a heart attack when she saw me, she is doing her best to look after me but I need proper medical attention that I can only get it seems in Russia.’’
Bogdanov, who comes from the Russian seaport city of Kaliningrad, has sent a message and a video of his ordeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian mission in Mumbai, seeking their help in getting him back home.
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