Swiss couple attacked in Fatehpur Sikri; 3 minors among 5 held

NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW: A young Swiss tourist couple was attacked by five youths in Agra''s Fatehpur Sikri in Uttar Pradesh leaving them battered and bruised, police said on Thursday. All five have been arrrested, police said, adding prima facie three of the suspects appear to be minors.

The couple at the hospital. ANI

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

New Delhi/Lucknow, October 26

A young Swiss tourist couple was attacked by five youths in Agra's Fatehpur Sikri in Uttar Pradesh leaving them battered and bruised, police said on Thursday. All five have been arrrested, police said, adding prima facie three of the suspects appear to be minors.

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Following the intervention of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in the brutal attack on a Swiss tourist couple on October 21, the Uttar Pradesh government has registered a case against four unidentified people.

Taking cognisance of the media reports the union minister has sought a report from the Uttar Pradesh government.

A couple from Lausanne, Switzerland, were harassed, chased and attacked with stones and sticks by a group of ruffians in Fatehpur Sikri leaving them with bruises and fractures.

“My officers will reach them in the hospital,” said Swaraj’s tweet.

Later in the evening, police said three of the assailants have been nabbed, while efforts were on to track down the fourth person.

Instead of helping the badly-injured couple crying for help passersby took photos and videos denting India’s, especially UP’s image as a safe tourist destination.

The horrifying news has hit the headlines just when CM Yogi Adityanath is visiting Agra to promote the city and its monuments, including the Taj, as a major tourist destination.

According to 24-year-old Swiss, Quentin Jeremy Clerc, he and his girlfriend Marie Droz were leisurely walking near the Fatehpur Sikri railway station a day after their arrival in Agra when a group of ruffians started stalking them.

First, they passed comments which the couple did not understand, then they became physical and tried to stop them insisting on taking selfies with Droz.

When the couple objected, the hooligans chased them, pelted them with stones and even thrashed them with sticks leaving Droz with a fractured left arm and Clerc with a clot in the brain and a fractured skull.

The couple is at present under treatment in a Delhi hospital.

Perhaps what was more shocking was the insensitive attitude of the passersby. Instead of coming to the couple’s rescue they were reportedly taking photos and videos of the bloodied couple lying on the ground.