‘Concerts in India aren’t safe for women’: British travel influencer says she and her friend were ‘touched without consent’ at Post Malone event in Guwahati

Amidst an attempt by the Assam government to boost the state’s image as an emerging concert destination, a video uploaded on social media on Tuesday – the day after the concert – by Emma, a travel influencer with over 76,000 followers on Instagram, raised concerns about women’s safety in the city at such events.

With a caption that “concerts in India aren’t safe for women,” she wrote in the post, “As two women in the crowd, both me and Amina (another travel influencer) were touched without consent within minutes of entering the packed area. After just 10 minutes, we had to force our way out and move to the back near the vendors because we no longer felt safe. Sadly because of what happened we were no longer able to enjoy the concert,” she wrote.

The video shows her and her partner confronting the crowd around them in the audience.

“This isn’t ‘normal crowd pushing.’ It’s part of a wider issue of violence against women and the way harassment is minimised in public spaces. No concert, no matter how big, should make women choose between enjoying the music and guarding their bodies,” she wrote.

DCP Guwahati East Mrinal Deka, in whose jurisdiction the concert venue comes under, said that police were cognizant of the post and were looking into the matter. “Unfortunately, they did not raise a complaint instantly and report the incident either to the police who were present at the concert venue or to the organisers. This lapse of time makes it a little difficult, but we are looking into the matter,” he said.

Over 20,000 tickets had been sold for the concert, one of the biggest ever to be held in Guwahati city. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been clear that the goal is to try and compete with Shillong in neighbouring Meghalaya – only around 100 km away from Guwahati – as a premier concert location in the region.

The Assam cabinet had passed a ‘policy for concert tourism’ in the state in May this year. This policy includes support from the government, including access to state-owned stadiums and grounds without cost, clearances by local authorities, financial support of up to Rs 5 crore per event to cover operational and logistical expenses, even promotion through official channels of Assam Tourism and other agencies, and facilitation of liquor licences for the event through simpler procedures.

The stated ‘mission’ of this policy is to “establish Assam as one of India’s top concert tourism destinations in another three years by hosting at least 3-5 internationally recognised music festivals each year in collaboration with top-tier event management companies” and “attract sizeable concert tourists annually to strengthen the tourism-driven economy”.