British woman molested in Orissa govt hotel

A young British woman was on Tuesday allegedly molested by an employee of a state-run hotel at Konark near Sun Temple in Orissa.

"The 20-year-old woman from the UK has complained that one of the staff, Subhas Sahu, molested her when she was alone in her room at Jatri Niwas this afternoon," Puri SP Sanjay Kumar said.

Hotels under the brand name Jatri Niwas are run by Orissa Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC). The girl had checked into the hotel at about 12:30 pm. Sahu entered her room on the pretext of serving lunch, police said.

"Sahu, a waiter at the hotel, has been arrested and booked under section 354 (outraging modesty of a woman) of IPC," the SP said.

Immediately after the incident, the girl rushed to the police station along with the owner of a private lodge, where she is currently staying, Kumar said.

The incident came a day after a group of miscreants attempted to attack a couple from South Korea at Sakshigopal in Satyabadi area of Puri district. However, the couple managed to escape the attack, police said.