Monday November 13,
2006
New Zealand police warn tourists after Dutch honeymooners kidnapped
and rapped
New Zealand police have warned tourists to avoid camping in
remote areas after a pair of Dutch honeymooners were abducted from
their campsite in the north of the country.
The woman was sexually assaulted and the pair were forced to
withdraw money from cash machines as their abductors -- believed to
be two indigenous Maori men -- drove them around in their campervan
during an ordeal which lasted about five hours, police said.
The couple were getting ready to sleep in their campervan at Hararu
Falls in the Bay of Islands region in the north of the country when
they were attacked late Friday.
Police warned tourists against camping in isolated areas, although
investigation head Detective Inspector Mike Pannett said the area
was generally safe.
He said tourists should camp in a "proper camping ground or an area
where other people are camping".
Petrol station attendant Dion Gee said a week earlier he had warned
the couple against camping in isolated areas after they asked him
if there were any free places to stay.
"I said, 'Anywhere that is free is probably not safe'," Gee told
the New Zealand Herald.
"They just kind of laughed but I said, 'Seriously, New Zealand is
not as safe as it is probably made out to be'."
Pannett said the couple had been badly traumatised by their
abduction.
