One Arrested After Attack on Swiss Couple in Fatehpur Sikri

By Little India Desk | October 26, 2017

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Oct. 25 arrested a man suspected to be involved in the attack on a Swiss couple that left them with broken bones. The man’s skull was fractured in the attack. Quentin Jeremy Clerc and Marie Droz, both 24 years old, were chased and hit with sticks and stones at Fatehpur Sikri, 40 km from Agra.

The man arrested is said to be the brother of the main accused, Mukul. The incident happened on Oct. 22 afternoon. According to the police, the couple was walking around a railway track in Fatehpur Sikri when a group of locals pressed them for clicking selfies with Marie Droz. The youth started inquiring about their place of stay and grilled them with more intrusive questions. They later began assaulting the two with stones and sticks.

When they were lying battered on the ground after the attack, the bystanders were taking videos on their mobile, the couple told the Times of India.

Clerc was left with a fractured skull, a blood clot in his brain and nerve damage on his right ear while Droz suffered a broken arm. They are currently receiving treatment in a hospital in New Delhi after being shifted from a local health center.

Agra: Swiss couple attacked by unknown people in Fatehpur Sikri. Police probe underway. EAM has sought report of the incident from UP Govt. pic.twitter.com/bVIuPvTOF8

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 26, 2017

The police filed the complaint on its own cognizance after the victims did not display interest, a spokesperson for the Agra SSP was quoted as saying in the Hindu. Droz told the Times of India: “I still cannot understand why they attacked us. They have not taken any of our valuables.”

Since the attack brings to light the security of foreign tourists in India, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has sought a report from the state government. She also tweeted that a team from the ministry would meet the couple, who hail from Lausanne, Switzerland. The couple had come to India on Sept. 30.

I have just seen this. I have asked for a report from the State Government. / 1 https://t.co/NbJk4BF5iS via @TOICitiesNews

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 26, 2017

My officers will reach them in the hospital. /2

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 26, 2017

The attack has left the tourism industry worried. A tour operator told The Hindustan Times that such incidents are bound to scare tourists away. The police say they are astonished by the “unusual attack” and are not sure if it is the work of local goons who get aggressive with tourists if they don’t part with money, the publication added.

In 2014, a German woman alleged that she was molested by her hotel manager in Agra. In 2007, two Japanese tourists were gang-raped in the city.

Fatehpur Sikri, which also gets a good tourist footfall, was the capital of the Mughal empire between 1572 and 1585 during the reign of Emperor Akbar.