When they left for their Europe trip on June 26, Divyanka Tripathi and Vivek Dahiya never anticipated a distressing experience during the final leg of their journey. The couple was robbed of their passports, cash, and valuable items in Florence on July 10 after their car, parked on a resort premises during check-in, was broken into. They eventually obtained emergency certificates and returned home yesterday.

Speaking about the experience, Vivek told us, “When you plan your travel, this is the last thing you anticipate. There is no denying that one has to be careful, especially in certain parts of the world, and we were fully aware of this. We had gone to a resort just outside of Florence, where Divyanka had booked us a vineyard experience as our anniversary (July 8) gift. The staff advised us to enjoy the experience first and then check in. When we informed them about our belongings inside the car parked on their premises, they assured us it was safe. However, when we returned after our tour, everything was gone. The glass was shattered and someone had taken all our belongings – four big bags, my sling bag containing our passports, Aadhar cards, credit and debit cards, and cash. We were in shock.”

He added, “The staff suggested we report the incident to the police, but the police station wasn’t open after 6 pm. We were in a vineyard with nothing. Eventually, we had one of the resort staff members narrate the incident to the police because of the language barrier. To our shock, we found out the following day that she had told them the car was parked in a public place and that we didn’t want the police to investigate further, probably to avoid implicating the resort.”

A friend living abroad helped them with cash. Vivek shared, “Our friend helped us because Indian digital apps don’t work in Italy. We also tweeted about the incident and contacted the Indian embassy – they were extremely helpful. We went there the following day and obtained our emergency certificates on July 12.”

After a harrowing experience, the couple was relieved to arrive back in India. They said, “Every Indian we met, from Italy to Dubai and back in India, knew about our situation and inquired about our well-being. Unn sab se Hindi mein baat karke ek alag hi sukoon mil raha tha. Now we are back... It feels great to be home finally.”