Departed prematurely

How a dream vacation turned into horror for a family

A group of drunken men photographed women and girls in bikinis by the hotel pool.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/AP/Rob Griffith, zVg, stock.adobe.com)

Secret photos of the daughter, heavily armed police officers, helplessness: a family's planned three-week trip to Sri Lanka came to an abrupt end. The girl has even been in therapy since then.

Dream beaches, picturesque landscapes, gigantic temples: on paper, the island nation of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean offers everything a (vacationer's) heart desires. But for a family from the Vienna Woods, a trip there turned into a nightmare. They had to leave early and their youngest daughter (13) has needed therapeutic help ever since.

Photos of underage girls
But what was the trigger? "My daughter was playing a game by the pool when she noticed a group of drunks from India pulling out their cell phones and taking photos of women and underage girls in bikinis," says the father (43). The 13-year-old girl also involuntarily became a photo subject.

If we're unlucky, we'll have to go back to Sri Lanka for the trial. I hope they spare my daughter that and it will be enough if only I come.

Der Familienvater (43)

The Lower Austrians immediately reported the incidents to reception. "Unfortunately, we were ignored for a long time and the police were only called far too late," says the father of two. In the end, heavily armed uniformed men stood in the foyer. "They treated us like perpetrators, we had to hand over our passports and were interrogated in a windowless room. My daughter was completely at the end of her tether, she was traumatized," says the man.

"As if paralyzed"
Six hours later, at least a report was filed. From then on, however, they felt like prisoners in a hotel - constantly accompanied by a "minder". "It was unbearable. When we saw the Indian men in a good mood at the breakfast table the next day, my daughter was paralyzed. We just wanted to get away," explains the 43-year-old, who then flew home with his family ten days earlier than planned at his own expense. He has now called in lawyers, the ministry and the embassy. "It's a huge mess what happened here!"

The Lower Austrian also takes the travel company to task: "It's unacceptable that rooms in a family hotel are allocated to a group of men who only stay here to party and harass women and children."

The hardships are not over yet
But even back in the Vienna Woods, the stresses and strains for the family are not yet over. "My daughter needs rest and extensive psychotherapy to come to terms with what she has experienced. And if we're unlucky, we'll have to go back to Sri Lanka for the upcoming trials," says the father.