British tourist jumps out window of hotel near Taj Mahal to escape possible sexual assault, police say

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A British woman jumped out of the third-floor window of her room in the Hotel Agra Mahal in Agra, India on Tuesday, March 19, 2013, after the hotel’s owner tried to force his way into the room, causing her to fear she was about to be sexually assaulted, police said. Pawan Sharma/AP

NEW DELHI — A British woman travelling 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.

10:28ET 19-03-13

Tags: Agra, Britain, British, fear, hotel, India, jump, massage, owner, sexual attack, Taj Mahal, tourist, woman