NEW DELHI (AP) – A British woman traveling in India jumped
out of the third-floor window of her hotel room on Tuesday, telling police she
feared a sexual attack after the hotel's owner tried to force his way into the
room by offering her a massage.
The woman was not badly hurt, although she suffered some injuries to her
legs, police officer Sushant Gaur said.
Police arrested the hotel owner in connection with the incident in Agra, the site of the Taj Mahal, one of India's most
cherished tourist attractions, Gaur said. No charges have been filed.
The woman told the police that the hotel owner kept knocking on her door
persistently and even tried to unlock the door after she refused his offer of a
free massage.
The owner denied that and police said he told them he knocked on the woman's
door only because she had asked to be woken up at 4 a.m.
"Our consular team has spoken to this lady and also to the local
police," a spokesman for the British High Commission in New Delhi said, adding the high commission,
or embassy, was offering her consular assistance.
The incident comes after a Swiss tourist was gang-raped on Friday in central
India.
Six men have been arrested in that attack.
The violence comes amid heightened concern about sexual assaults in India that followed the fatal gang-rape of a
young woman on a moving bus in New
Delhi in December.
That rape sparked public protests demanding the government do a better job
of protecting women.
In response, the government passed a law increasing prison terms for rape
and providing for the death penalty in cases of rape that result in death or
leave the victim in a coma. It has also made voyeurism, stalking, acid attacks
and the trafficking of women punishable under criminal law.
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March 19, 2013: The Hotel Agra Mahal is seen in Agra, India (AP Photo)
