GOOD
SAMARITANS HELP
ROBBED
BELGIAN TOURIST
Had a few people not come
to the aid of Belgian Steve Robert, robbed on a Delhi-Mumbai train, his woes
would never have ended.The 36-year-old Robert planned to explore the natural beauty of Kerala, GOd's Own Country. But, after losing virtually everything in
the train robbery, his plans went awry. According to him, barring
his passport and the return flight ticket from here to Brussels Sep 2, the
robbers took all he had. Robert, who moves around with a walking stick,
was spotted at the airport here five days back. When people tried to know what
his problem was, the language threw a spanner in their conversation.
It was all thanks to the
local people, including taxi drivers, that Robert managed to pull on. But the
Belgian found that he would have to shell out around Rs.40,000 for advancing
his return journey.For a few days, he spent the nights at a church located
close to the airport. Everyday, he reached the airport to see if the airline
authorities would be able to help him, but nothing happened. Finally,
there was good news. As word spread about his ordeal, people reached out with a
helping hand.Speaking to IANS, state Tourism Minister A.P. Anil Kumar said an
organisation and an individual have helped Robert get a new ticket. 'These
two paid for the ticket while a hotelier has agreed to accommodate him from
today (Sunday) till Wednesday when he would fly out to Delhi and catch the
flight to Brussels next day (Thursday),' said Kumar. However, what has
surprised many who have provided succour to Robert was that despite being
informed about one of their national's plight, the Belgian embassy did not
offer any help.
Prof. John Kurakar
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