British Woman injured jumping out of Hotel window to escape sex attack in Agra in India

**Panda** Tue 19 Mar - 18:03

Last Updated: 12:22PM 19/03/2013

Alex Rossi, Sky News Asia Correspondent

A British woman is recovering from injuries to her legs after jumping out of her hotel window to escape an alleged sex attack in Agra in India - the home of the iconic Taj Mahal.

According to police, the incident happened in the Cantonment area of the city about four o'clock on Tuesday morning.
Deputy Superintendent Simranjit Kaur told Sky News that the 31-year-old woman escaped from the second floor window of her room after the hotel owner tried to enter "demanding" a massage.
"The woman became scared and leapt from the balcony. We have arrested the owner and may cancel the licence of the hotel depending on our investigations," she said.
The victim was taken to hospital by a rickshaw driver and was treated for muscle damage to her legs.
She has also given a statement to officers and is now "safely" in another hotel under police protection.
The police said she will be flying home to the UK shortly, even though she was planning to visit China after touring India.
The Foreign Office said it was "urgently" investigating the reports.
A spokesman said: "We are aware of the reports and we are urgently looking into it. We are in contact with our colleagues in India."
The FCO has changed its advice to female travellers visiting India in the last forty eight hours following the gang rape of a Swiss cycle tourist in Madhya Pradesh on Friday night.
British female tourists are now being advised to"exercise caution" in India, even when travelling as part of a group.
Advice on the FCO website states: "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.
"British women have been the victims of sexual assault in Goa, Delhi, Bangalore and Rajasthan and women travellers often receive unwanted attention in the form of verbal and physical harassment by individuals or groups of men."
Women travelling through the country are advised to respect local dress codes and customs and avoid visiting isolated areas, including beaches, alone, at any time of day.
The FCO also warns women against travelling alone on public transport, in taxis or auto-rickshaws, especially at night.
The Swiss woman was camping in a forested area with her husband when they were attacked by men brandishing sticks. She was repeatedly raped according to local police.
That attack came just a few days after the man accused of leading the fatal gang rape of a student on a New Delhi bus was found hanged in his prison cell.
India has seen anger and public protests against rapes and sexual attacks on women since the gang-rape in New Delhi in December

**Panda** Wed 20 Mar - 7:34

British woman 'screamed for help for an hour during attempted Indian sex
attack'

A British woman backpacking across India has told how she screamed for help
for more than an hour before jumping from her second floor window to escape a
hotel manager who she claims tried to sexually assault her.

British Woman injured jumping out of Hotel window to escape sex attack in Agra in India Agra-Mahal_2514283b

British Woman injured jumping out of Hotel window to escape sex attack in Agra in India Agra-Mahal_2514283b

The Hotel Agra Mahal
Photo:
AP

By Dean Nelson, New
Delhi

8:00PM GMT 19 Mar 2013

The 32-year-old from Greenwich, London, spoke as the Indian parliament passed a
tough new anti-rape law in the wake of the gang-rape and murder of a student
last December.

She told police she was due to leave the Agra Mahal hotel, near the Taj
Mahal, on Tuesday morning for Jaipur, when the manager knocked on her door at
3.45am, and said he wanted to give her an oil massage and a shower.

"I refused and asked him to leave but he was insistent," she said. "I had to
push him out with the door, and then I bolted the door. He remained outside my
door trying to get in with his keys until 5am. I was shouting at him to stop
harassing me, I told him I wanted him to go.

"I was too scared to leave my room as he was waiting outside. I was kicking
the door and shouting for help but no one came," she said in a police statement,
a copy of which was read to The Daily Telegraph by a senior officer.

After 45 minutes, a second voice, believed to be that of the hotel's security
guard, joined the manager outside her room calling for her to unlock the door.
"I shouted at them to stop harassing me but it continued," she said.

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At 5am, the woman, who is now under police guard, escaped from a second-floor
balcony by jumping more than 15 feet to another balcony below, narrowly avoiding
falling more than 30 feet to the ground.

"I ran into the road but no one would stop," she said, until an autorickshaw
driver eventually slowed for her. "I begged him to take me to the tourist police
station. A man approached him and tried to make him bring me back to the hotel.
So I jumped out of the rickshaw and ran some more. The driver caught up with me
and said he understood and took me to the police station."

The hotel manager, Sachin Johan, and his guard were later arrested and could
be jailed for seven years for sexual harassment if convicted. Both men deny the
charge. Mr Johan told police he was simply knocking to wake the woman for her
rickshaw ride to the train station.

Under the new legislation, rapists will face a minimum sentence of 20 years,
while they will incur the death penalty if a victim dies or is left in a
vegetative state. A rapist faces seven to 10 years in jail under existing
legislation.

The bill was passed against a backdrop of unrelenting reports of gang rapes
which have put India's politicians under pressure to tackle sexual violence
against women.

The attack on the 23-year-old student on a bus in Delhi, which provoked
nationwide outrage, as well as the gang-rape of a Swiss tourist cycling in
Madhya Pradesh, Central India, with her husband, have heightened fears among
women and intensified demands for greater safety.

Women's rights campaigner Ranjana Kumari said the backpacker's decision to
jump from her window reflected the "environment of fear" in India now.

"It is a really sad statement on the insecurity of women in this country. It
is becoming a fear psychosis. And it will only change when people are being
arrested and punished. she must have read about what happened to this woman in
Madhya Pradesh.

"She had a sense, women know, and I'm sure she knew what he intended. she
tried to protect herself and I can understand that because there is a whole
environment of fear in the country."