A 24-year-old female British traveller has been stabbed to death on a houseboat in India.

Sarah Groves, from Guernsey, was found dead inside the boat this morning on the Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir.

Police have said a 43-year-old Dutch man, Richard De Wit, was arrested about 45 miles from the scene of the suspected murder.

Sarah Groves has been found stabbed to death on a boathouse in Kashmir

Police have said the 24-year-old was found inside the boat this morning on the Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir

The house boat where the body of Sarah Groves was found in Srinagar today

‘He was trying to flee from the Valley, carrying only his passport. We flashed an alert for his arrest.’

The young woman was stabbed to death, according to a Sky News report.

The Dutchman, who had apparently been staying in the houseboat, was arrested in Qazigund, a town just under 75 km (45 miles) south of Srinagar. Conflicting reports suggested the man had been staying on a neighbouring boat.

One of the sons of the houseboat’s owner, Abdul Rahim Shoda, is also helping police with the inquiries, although he has not been arrested, according to Sky News.

A pair of shoes (left) belonging to the 24-year-old woman from Guernsey are pictured on the houseboat in Srinagar

Sarah Groves was found dead inside a houseboat this morning on the Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir, Indian media have said

An Indian policeman stands outside the house boat New Beauty where the woman was found dead

The police chief said: ‘While preliminary investigation has confirmed that the woman was murdered, we are investigating other angles. Forensic evidence is being collected.’

Forensic examinations were due to take place to determine the extent of her injuries and also whether she had been sexually assaulted, according to the BBC. The Foreign Office has refused to confirm any details.

The woman had been staying on the houseboat for two months, the owner told NDTV, adding that she had been ‘like her daughter’.

The owner’s sons heard an argument and screams at 2.30am, according to The Telegraph. The sons said they saw the Dutch man leaving the houseboat in a traditional shikara rowing boat, which capsized before he swam to the shore.

They then found the body of the woman with multiple stab wounds.

Kashmir’s Deputy Inspector-General, Afad ul-Mujtaba, told the Telegraph: ‘The girl went to sleep at about 12 o’clock and the Dutch man was outside until 12.30am.

Sarah Groves has allegedly been stabbed to death on a houseboat on Dal Lake, a popular tourist destination

One of the sons of the boathouse owner Abdul Rahim Shoda (pictured) is also helping police with the inquiries, although he has not been arrested, according to reports

An Indian policeman stands guard on a houseboat near a pair of shoes (left) belonging to Sarah Groves

‘After that everyone, including the houseboat owner and staff went to sleep.

‘At around 2.30am, they [the owner and his son] heard some cries, possibly some quarrelling.’

Police have said that a knife was found near the victim’s body and there was evidence to suggest her room door had been forced open.

The arrested Dutch man has not been formally charged with anything.

One of the other sons of the boathouse owner told Sky News Sarah had been staying with the family for two months.

He said: ‘She was a wonderful girl, she had a good time with my family, she was helping my mother as well.’

A spokesman said: ‘We are aware of an incident involving the death of a British National in India.  We have offered consular assistance to the family.’

The son of the houseboat owner said Sarah had been enjoying her time with the family

Houseboat owner Abdul Rahim Shoda speaks on his mobile phone near the house boat where the body was found

One of the sons of the owner of the houseboat owner described her as ‘a wonderful girl’ who had stayed with the family for the last two months

Last month, MailOnline reported how India had seen a sharp fall in the numbers of foreign tourists, especially women, since the high-profile rape and murder of a young woman in New Delhi, according to a study

In the three months since that attack, the number of foreigners travelling to India had dropped by 25 per cent, according to the the New Delhi-based Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The gang rape of the 23-year-old university student on a bus in the heart of the Indian capital shocked the country.

It brought hundreds of thousands of angry citizens out in the streets to demand more safety for women and harsher laws to deter the perpetrators of such acts.

Meanwhile, warnings against travelling to Srinagar and Jammu were lifted by the Foreign Office last November, according to the BBC, although they remained in force throughout the rest of Kashmir.

In February 2008, Scarlett Keeling, 15, was sexually assaulted and left for dead on a beach in the Indian holiday state of Goa after taking a cocktail of drugs.

In April last year the Daily Mail reported that she would finally be buried four years after her death, following claims of a communication blunder by Indian authorities and the Foreign Office.

Read more: Daily Mail