Dutch Man Confesses to Killing British Woman in Kashmir, Police Say

Mukhtar Khan/Associated Press Journalists and policemen stand outside a houseboat where a female British tourist was found dead Saturday, on the Dal Lake in Srinagar.

A Dutch man, Richard De Wit, confessed to stabbing to death a British woman in a houseboat on Dal Lake in Kashmir, the police said Sunday.

Sarah Groves, 24, was found dead on the “New Beauty” houseboat  in Srinagar on Saturday morning. Her death comes as tourism to India has dropped after several high profile incidents of sexual assault of women, and recent protests and violence in Kashmir threaten the upcoming summer tourism season.

Mr. De Wit, 43, confessed Saturday evening to stabbing the woman, Syed Ahafadul Mujtaba, Kashmir’s deputy inspector general of police told India Ink on Sunday afternoon. Mr. Mujtaba said Mr. De Wit, 43, had told the police he had violent tendencies and that he had been under the influence of drugs when he killed her.

“He told us that he had problems with the Dutch government and that he had a strained relationship with his wife,” Mr. Mujtaba said. “He said that he woke up under the influence of cannabis, went to her room and killed her.”

Mr. Mujtaba said the Indian authorities had informed the Dutch government that Mr. De Wit was in their custody, and that they also hoped to learn more about Mr. De Wit’s mental condition from his home government.

Ms. Groves, from the Channel Island of Guernsey, and Mr. De Wit had been staying in separate rooms on the New Beauty houseboat in Srinagar. Around 2:00 a.m. Saturday, the police said, Mr. De Wit smashed open the door to her room. Her body was found in a pool of blood by the houseboat staff, police said.

Mr. De Wit fled his room and boarded a taxi without his belongings, the police said. He was caught on the National Highway near the town of Qazigund, some 80 kilometers, or 50 miles, away, with only his passport.

An Internet message posted by Tom Groves, who said Sarah was his sister, said she traveled to Kashmir because she the son of the owner of the boat was her boyfriend.

The police said that a postmortem examination was conducted on Ms. Groves on Saturday. Her body is in the mortuary at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences. Mr. Mujtaba told India Ink that Mr. De Wit had not confessed to any sexual assault, and that he hoped to learn more from the results.

“We have constituted a board of doctors to look into this. It will take some time,” he said. “We will also be checking for poison as a matter of routine.” Mr. Mujtaba also said that Mr. De Wit, who will be charged with murder, did not speak of any romantic relationship with Ms. Grove.

Tourism operators in Kashmir were dismayed to hear the news of the murder, and said they fear it may impact on their business, which has already been badly hit by turbulence in the Kashmir Valley this year.

The murder comes after a deadly militant attack on an Indian security camp in March, and after a lengthy period of curfews and strikes following the hanging of a local Muslim man, Muhammad Afzal, in February for his role in the 2001 attack on Parliament.

Nayeem Raja, a houseboat owner not connected with the New Beauty houseboat, said that news of the murder would worsen already dampened tourism.  “April is the peak season, but no new tourists are coming,” Mr. Raja said.

The murder of Ms. Groves follows the gang rape of a Swiss tourist in March in Madhya Pradesh, followed by an incident involving a British woman jumping from her hotel room in Agra to escape a sexual assault.

A recent report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry said that after the fatal Dec. 16 gang rape of a 23-year-old woman in Delhi, which caused international furor, foreign tourist arrivals dropped 25 percent in the first three months of this year. The number of female foreigners visiting India has dropped 35 percent.

As news spread of Ms. Groves’s murder, Twitter was abuzz with messages of condolence for her tagged #justiceforsarah.