Centre seeks report on Swiss couple attack
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has sought a report from the UP government on the attack on the Swiss couple in Fatehpur Sikri and said the government is monitoring their progress.
MEA Joint Secretary S Bhattacharjee and Indian Ambassador designate to Switzerland C B George met the couple -- Clerc and Marie Droz -- in the hospital. While Droz has been discharged, Clerc is improving.
The couple was attacked by five youths who had left them on the road battered and bruised; according to the police, all of them have been nabbed. Prima facie, two appear to be major and the rest three are minors.
Dr Rajendra Prasad, neurosurgeon at the Apollo Hospital in Delhi where the couple was admitted, said Clerc has been shifted to the ward from the ICU. ‘‘We have moved him out of the ICU into a room. He is having a hearing problem, otherwise he is conscious and talking," said Prasad, adding it is difficult to say at this stage whether he has suffered permanent hearing damage.
The couple from Lausanne in Switzerland was chased and attacked on Sunday with stones and sticks by the youths. They had insisted on taking selfies with the couple.
Incidentally, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was in Agra on Thursday to visit Taj Mahal in an apparent damage control exercise, following controversial remarks by his party colleagues. Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Tourism K J Alphons has dashed off a letter to Yogi Adityanath, saying the incident could have a negative impact on the image of the country. Alphons said he was "deeply concerned" over the attack.
Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma, who held the tourism portfolio before the recent reshuffle and who played a significant role in organising the 'Paryatan Parv', also said the incident was a matter of shame for the country.
The incident came to light a day after the conclusion of the 'Paryatan Parv', India's biggest tourism festival which is aimed at increasing the tourist footfall in the country. "I condemn the attack on foreign tourists. It is unfortunate and should not have happened. It is a matter of shame for us," he told PTI in Delhi.