British tourist jumps from hotel balcony to escape sexual assault

mangaloretoday.com/NDTV

Agra, March 19: A British tourist jumped from her hotel room in Agra today, allegedly to avoid being molested by the owner of the hotel early this morning.

The 30-year-old jumped from the balcony on the first floor of the Agra Mahal Hotel and was taken to a hospital with leg injuries. She has been moved to another hotel now; tomorrow she will be brought to Delhi.

 

 

The hotel owner, Sachin Chauhan, has been arrested, and the ministry of Tourism has cancelled the hotel’s license. Police have also sealed the hotel.

The UK Embassy is in touch with the victim and has offered her counsular access and assistance.

Agra SSP Subhash Chand Dubey said that the woman had earlier rejected the hotel owner’s overtures offering a massage. He allegedly then returned to her room at 4 am under the pretext of the morning wake up call, then returned around 4:40am and refused to leave. He kept knocking at her door and according to the British tourist he was accompanied by a security guard. When he refused to leave, she felt she was left with no option but to escape from the balcony.

The woman had checked into the hotel a day before.

The hotel owner claims the tourist had asked to be woken up for an early morning train, which is why he went to her room.

Just this morning, the UK revised its advisory to its citizens travelling to India, citing the recent gang-rape in Madhya Pradesh of a Swiss tourist who was on a cycling tour with her husband. Six men have been arrested for the assault.

"Women should use caution when travelling in India. Reported cases of sexual assault against women and young girls are increasing; recent sexual attacks against female visitors in tourist areas and cities show that foreign women are also at risk. A Swiss national suffered a serious sexual attack in Madyha Pradesh on 16 March. Women travellers should exercise caution when travelling in India even if they are travelling in a group," the advisory said.

 

Rape fears fuel tourists’ anxiety in India


Danish tourist Judith Jensen has a long list of don’ts to help her feel safe during her holiday in India.

She won’t hail a taxi off the street, she won’t stay in an obscure hotel and she won’t go out after dark - all decisions made in response to the growing reporting of sexual crime in the country.

"I have read and heard so much about rape in India that now I feel this persistent sense of danger," Jensen, 42, told AFP as she walked through a popular market in downtown Delhi.

The tourism ministry’s ubiquitous Incredible India marketing campaign has helped raise the number of foreign visitors over the past decade to around 6.6 million a year - albeit still way behind the likes of China and Malaysia.

But that push is now hampered by a growing sense that India is simply not a safe destination, particularly for women.