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Unruly Indian mob scares beauty queen

She was to get a first-hand experience of the AIDS capital of India. But, her visit to the shoddy sexual health museum in Nagpada in south central Mumbai turned out to be scary.

Published on: Oct 26, 2006, 14:46:00 IST
None | By , Mumbai
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She was to get a first-hand experience of the AIDS capital of India. But, her visit to the shoddy sexual health museum in Nagpada in south central Mumbai turned out to be scary.

HT Image
HT Image

Reigning Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera had to cancel the walk through Kamathipura to spread awareness on HIV/AIDS as the crowd went out of control.

Catcalls, pimps making vulgar remarks and ‘officials’ trying to shake hands and be photographed with Rivera scared her and she decided to head for the hotel.

The police also advised her to cancel the programme as the crowd threatened to breach security. The walk — part of the awareness campaign by the IG International — had to be cancelled, reducing the event to just an official visit to the AIDS museum in Nagpada.

“Her bodyguards were also getting annoyed by the unwarranted ‘official’ elements who were trying to sneak in to shake hands with her and be photographed,” said one of the event organisers.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation health committee chairman Mangal Mange claimed that the crowd’s behaviour and gestures had irked the Miss Universe. “There could have been a security issue, so we decided to cancel the rest of the programme,” he said.

aditya.ghosh@hindustantimes.com

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