A Swiss tourist has been left with a fractured skull after he and his girlfriend were brutally attacked near the Taj Mahal during a holiday in India.
A gang approached Quentin Jeremy Clerc and Marie Droz, both 24, from Lausanne, Switzerland, near a railway station and demanded selfies with Droz before beating them with stones.
Clerc suffered a fractured skull while his girlfriend, also a Swiss national, was left with 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 on Sunday.
Swiss tourist Quentin Jeremy Clerc (right) has been left with a fractured skull after he and his girlfriend Marie Droz (left) were brutally attacked near the Taj Mahal during a holiday in India. They are pictured receiving treatment after the assault
A group of men approached Quentin Jeremy Clerc and Marie Droz (pictured), both 24, near a local railway station and demanded selfies with Droz before beating them with stones
Clerc suffered a fractured skull while his girlfriend, also a Swiss national, was left with a broken arm and multiple bruises in the attack, which happened near the Taj Mahal (file picture)
The couple were set upon near a train station by a gang after one of them asked for a selfie with Droz
Clerc and his girlfriend Marie Droxz had come from Switzerland on September 30 for a tour of Agra.
Senior officer Amit Pathak said 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.
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.
Clerc and his girlfriend Marie Droxz, both 24, had come from Lausanne in Switzerland on September 30 for a tour of Agra
The Swiss embassy website warns tourists of high levels of crime in India, particularly in popular tourists spots such as Agra, where the country’s most famous monument is located.
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said she had sought a report from the state government of Uttar Pradesh over the latest attack and would send representatives to visit the Swiss couple in hospital.
Some social media users criticised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for failing to provide security to tourists.
‘Such a shameful story on the breakdown of law & order in India’s largest state. Is @myogiadityanath listening?’ tweeted Milind Deora, a leader of the opposition Congress party.
Others said the incident was a blow to India’s hopes of drawing more tourists to the country, which had just 8.8 million foreign visitors last year according to official data.