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

Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...
Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...