A Swiss tourist has been left with a fractured skull after he and his girlfriend were attacked near the Taj Mahal during a holiday in India, police and media reports said Thursday. A group of men approached the couple near a local railway station and demanded selfies with the woman before attacking them with stones on Sunday, the Times of India daily said.
It said the man suffered a fractured skull while his girlfriend, a 24-year-old Swiss national, had a broken arm and multiple bruises. Bystanders took videos of the couple on their mobile phones as they lay on the ground after the attack, the paper reported. Senior officer Amit Pathak told AFP by phone from Agra in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh that police had identified some of the attackers.
"Some of them could be minors, so we are investigating and if they are indeed minors they will be produced in juvenile court as per the law," said Pathak, senior police superintendent for Agra. Another police officer, Pradeep Kumar, later said one suspect had been taken in for questioning.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath later said two had been arrested and vowed those responsible would be dealt with "sternly". "All others involved will also face strict action. Our government will not tolerate anything like this," he told reporters after visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra on Thursday. The motive for the attack was not clear, but levels of sexual violence are relatively high in India and many Western countries warn visitors of the risk of attacks.