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Estonian foreign ministry says Indian police has held three individuals regarding an incident of Estonian citizens attacked with stones. The ministry has been in contact with people closest to those attacked.
Indian police detains three as related to stoning of Estonians
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The attack was performed against an Estonian man and woman both in their forties, foreign ministry press representative Maria Belovas told Postimees.
The Times of India wrote Eha (46) and Vahur (45) were attacked because they were mistakenly perceived to be robbers.
As explained by local police chief Rajendra Prasad Goyal, the people were thirsty and entered a hut in Udaipur to ask for water. Regrettably, an elderly woman in the hut thought they were robbers and yelled for help. Running to her rescue, local men begun to throw stones at the Estonians to scare them off. Later, the couple was found lying at the road side.
Mr Goyal added it was a mistake by people of little education and the attack was not intentional. Nevertheless, the police detained three men – Lalchand Bhil, Nathu and Kant. The police is hunting for two more suspects.
On Wednesday, the police confirmed that the condition of the Estonians was stable.
The newspaper said that the nature lovers from Estonia have been in India for 18 days and before Udaipur had visited several places.
Both travel-insured
Under the attack, the man suffered minor injuries. The woman’s condition is more severe but stable. Both have travel insurance.
Foreign ministry staff have communicated with people closest to the victims and staff at the hospital but neither the ministry nor Estonian embassy in India has been able to talk to the victims personally as yet.
The foreign ministry stands ready to provide any assistance to the victims, from mediation of communication with Indian agencies to providing advice.
As noted by Ms Belovas, what made it easy to identify the Estonians and contact relatives what that before going on the trip they had registered at foreign ministry website.
«All Estonian citizens heading for trips might use the opportunity to get registered on foreign ministry website. In case of problems, this provided for faster identification, finding relatives, and offering help,» said Ms Belovas.