Four arrested over tourist murder in India

Police in western India have arrested four people in connection with the killing of a British tourist, an officer investigating the case said today.

Stephen Bennett, 40, was found beaten to death and hanging from a tree on December 11 in a forest near Malsi, a village 85 miles south of Mumbai, India’s finance and entertainment hub.

Bennett was killed because of an apparent misunderstanding with villagers, said SM Talpade, a local police officer investigating the murder.

Bennett, a native of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, had gone to India on December 3 on a tourist visa, according to the passport police found on him. Police also found £300 (€445.70) and a railway ticket from Goa to Mumbai, he said.

Villagers told police that Bennett spoke to a woman from Malsi in English. The woman and her family, who do not understand English, thought Bennett propositioned her and began beating him with sticks, Talpade said.

Others in the neighbourhood joined them, he said.

The four men arrested by police included the husband of the woman and her brother-in-law, Talpade said.

Bennett died from head injuries. “This is the first time something like this has happened in this area,” Talpade said.

It was the second time in the past two months that a British national has been found dead in India. In November, the body of a British charity worker was discovered near a cemetery in McLeodganj town, Himachal Pradesh state.