india-rape-protest-AFP-670
Indian activists belonging to various rights organisations hold placards while they stage a demonstration in Bangalore on Dec 21, 2012, condemning a gang rape in New Delhi that caused an uproar int he country and throughout the world. — Photo by AFP

NEW DELHI: A female British tourist was admitted to hospital after jumping through a hotel window Tuesday over fears of a sex attack in the Indian city of Agra, home to the Taj Mahal, police said.

The victim, who was not named but was in her early 30s, suffered leg injuries when she leapt from the first floor after two men tried to enter her room in the Hotel Agra Mahal at around 4:00 am.

“She got frightened so she ran to the other end of the room and jumped out of the window,” Pawan Kumar, superintendent of police in Agra, told AFP.

Another officer who was with the victim in hospital said she had earlier rejected the hotel manager's overtures offering a massage.

He then returned with a second man and attempted to open the door to her room with a key, the officer said.

Swaranjeet, deputy superintendent of police in Agra, who only uses one name, said that one person had been taken into custody on charges of harassment.

The victim had suffered a ligament fracture in one leg but her injuries were not serious, Swaranjeet told AFP.

“But she is very scared and has cancelled her plans to keep travelling in India. She just wants to return home,” she added.

A member of staff at the hotel, who would not give his full name, said the manager had merely tried to wake up the victim in time for an early morning train.

“We don’t know what she thought but she jumped out of the window of her room,” said the staff member.

The incident comes just days after a Swiss cyclist was gang-raped by a group of villagers on Friday night while on a cycling trip with her husband that included a stop in the Taj Mahal city of Agra.

The attack renewed focus on the country’s poor record on safety for women.

Opinion

Editorial

Economic plan?
Updated 15 Dec, 2024

Economic plan?

So long as the government does not realise that it needs to put its own house in order, growth will remain anaemic and the world will be reluctant to help.
Registration tussle
15 Dec, 2024

Registration tussle

MAULANA Fazlur Rehman appears to be having trouble digesting the fact that he was taken for a ride. The government,...
Dangerous overreach
15 Dec, 2024

Dangerous overreach

THE latest wave of arrests and cases filed against journalists and social media users under Peca marks an alarming...
Half measures
Updated 14 Dec, 2024

Half measures

The question remains: Were suspects' prolonged detention, subsequent trial, and punishments ever legal in eyes of the law?
Engaging with Kabul
14 Dec, 2024

Engaging with Kabul

WHILE relations with the Afghan Taliban have been testy of late, mainly because of the feeling in Islamabad that the...
Truant ministers
Updated 14 Dec, 2024

Truant ministers

LAWMAKERS from both the opposition and treasury benches have been up in arms about what they see as cabinet...