Just two weeks after a Swiss couple was brutally attacked in Uttar Pradesh, a German national was assaulted allegedly by a railway contractor in Sonbhadra district in the eastern part of the state on Saturday. The accused has been arrested.
Holger Ereek, who had arrived in Sonbhadra to visit the Agori Fort, was attacked at the Robertsganj railway station. But the accused, Aman Kumar, alleges that it was the German who hit him first when he greeted him.
“I am innocent… the German national punched me when I said ‘welcome to India’ to him. He even spit on me,” Kumar alleged.
Refusing to speak to mediapersons, Holger Ereek, who has sustained minor injuries, said, “India have rules… the Supreme Court says privacy is a fundamental law. So please don’t disturb my privacy. I am here to launch an FIR and that’s it”.
“It was simply a squabble, it is not a serious incident,” Ram Pratap Singh, Superintendent of Police, Sonbhadra, said.
Last month, a Swiss tourist couple was attacked near Agra too, sparking widespread outrage. Quentin Jeremy Clerc, 24, suffered a fractured skull and may have partial hearing loss, and his girlfriend Marie Droxz had a broken arm after they were hit with sticks and stones by a group that had chased them from a railway station in Fatehpur Sikri, the popular tourist destination right next to Agra.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Tourism Minister KJ Alphons had written to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was left confronting serious questions about safety in his state while on a visit to the Taj Mahal, where he also clicked photos with foreign tourists.
Five people, including three underage boys, were arrested in connection with the case.
