IDUKKI: Kerala has long been celebrated as a haven for travellers, a place where hospitality and natural beauty go hand in hand. But an incident reported from Munnar on October 30 has triggered shock and concern within the tourism sector, raising questions about visitor safety and the state’s commitment towards maintaining its reputation as ‘God’s Own Country’.

A Mumbai-based tourist was allegedly threatened and humiliated by a group of local taxi drivers for using an online taxi service — an episode that has since gone viral and drawn widespread criticism.

Jhanvi, an assistant professor from Mumbai, had travelled to Munnar with her friends after visiting Kochi and Alappuzha, where she said people had been “very respectful and warm”. However, her Munnar experience turned into what she described as “the worst incident of my life”.

She had reached Munnar from Alappuzha on an Uber taxi. When she tried to return in the same vehicle, the local drivers told her that online taxis were not allowed to pick up passengers from Munnar.

So she asked the Uber driver to move to a nearby location outside the town so she could board the vehicle. It was at this point that a group of local taxi drivers confronted them, allegedly blocking the car and threatening her group.

Feeling unsafe, they called the police — only to find, according to her statement, the officers “siding with the local taxi drivers”. “No one even asked us what had happened. They only spoke to the drivers,” she said in her video. She further alleged that she was forced to travel in the same vehicle belonging to the men who had threatened her.