New Delhi: A Swiss couple was left wounded on the road after being chased by a group of men and attacked with sticks and stones in tourist favourite Fatehpur Sikri near Agra on Sunday, a day after they visited the Taj Mahal. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has asked for a report from the Uttar Pradesh government on the brutal assault, which has left the man with head injuries and partial hearing loss.
One of the four attackers has been arrested.
Quentin Jeremy Clerc is in Delhi's Apollo hospital with a fractured skull and a clot in the brain. A nerve in his ear was also affected, say doctors. Foreign ministry officials visited the couple at the hospital.
He and his girlfriend Marie Droxz, both 24, had come from Lausanne in Switzerland on September 30 for a tour of Agra. After visiting the Taj, they were in the historic Fatehpur Sikri town on Sunday when they were stalked and harassed by four men for an hour.
The group followed them, shouted comments and tried to strike up a conversation with them. Eventually they grew bolder, blocked their way and forcibly took selfies.
"They followed us for almost an hour, and kept taking our pictures despite our objections," Mr Clerc has been quoted as telling the Times of India.
When they were returning from Fatehpur Sikri, the men hit Mr Clerc with a stick. "My girlfriend who was walking ahead of me rushed to my help and raised an alarm, attracting the attention of the people in the vicinity," he said.
Mr Clerc alleges that he was hit repeatedly until he fell to the ground. Ms Droxz was also attacked and her arm was fractured.
The men ran away when some people rushed to help the couple lying injured on the road.
The police say the couple did not want to file a complaint, but still the case has been taken up and a man has been arrested. Two more suspects have been identified.
The incident has emerged on a day Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is visiting Agra for a visit heavy on optics following controversial statements on the Taj Mahal, the 17th-century monument built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal.
Agra, which draws millions of visitors from across the world, has been concerned about a hit in its traffic.