Police: India tourist, fearing hotel owner, makes balcony-to-balcony escape
By Jason Hanna, CNN
updated 9:20 AM EDT, Tue March 19, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Police: A hotel owner told a woman he had a massage for her
- The woman jumped from the balcony of her hotel room to another floor
- She feared the hotel owner and complained of harassment, police say
- The incident comes amid high-profile assault cases in India
(CNN) -- A British woman touring India dropped from her hotel room's balcony to the one below to escape the hotel's owner, who had been trying to enter her room, police said Tuesday.
The owner was arrested on a harassment complaint, police said. A police official initially told CNN the owner was suspected of attempted rape, but Agra District Police Chief Subhash Dubey later said the woman was complaining only of harassment.
Doctors say the woman, traveling alone in Agra, might have ligament injuries but no fracture from her balcony-to-balcony escape, according to Dubey. She will cut short the rest of her trip and return to the United Kingdom, he said.
The woman locked the door of her room when the owner, Sachin Chauhan, offered her what he said was a preplanned massage, Dubey said. When Chauhan kept knocking on the door and insisted on the service, she left through her balcony, according to Dubey.
The man has denied any intention to assault the woman, Dubey told CNN. He added the woman is feeling afraid, and the police superintendent and two female constables are staying with her.
The incident comes amid a number of high-profile accusations of violence against women in India, and protests demanding that the violence end.
Opinion: End culture of rape in 2013
Last week, five men were accused of raping a Swiss tourist. Police said the men confessed to the crime, which allegedly took place in central India at a camping area near a forest in Datia district. Confessions in police custody are not admissible in court, however, and can be retracted.
That incident sparked demonstrations demanding that lawmakers be held accountable for a lack of law and order.
India was the focus of worldwide attention and national outrage in December after a 23-year-old student was gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi. She died in a Singapore hospital from injuries she suffered in the attack.
Read: Rape case 'an awakening' for India, victim's father says
CNN's Samira Said contributed to this report.
Part of complete coverage on
updated 3:14 PM EDT, Thu May 16, 2013
Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao is using his hero status to fight human trafficking in the Philippines, pushing for an anti-trafficking law.
updated 6:25 PM EDT, Thu May 16, 2013
The U.N. says 70% of rapes committed in Somalia are carried out by men in military uniform. CNN's Nima Elbagir reports.
updated 8:38 AM EDT, Fri May 17, 2013
Christiane Amanpour writes an open letter to girls of the world, saying it is time to end the discrimination against girls in education.
updated 3:12 PM EDT, Fri May 17, 2013
Fans gasped when David Beckham wore a sarong. Then there was the nail polish and tattoos. But his masculinity was never in doubt.
updated 10:54 AM EDT, Fri May 17, 2013
Albinos in Tanzania have been attacked and killed because some people believe their body parts bring good luck. But one albino is fighting back.
updated 8:50 AM EDT, Fri May 17, 2013
Terrible results for Dell mean the future seems anything but bright for the PC industry despite a flurry of attempted innovations.
updated 12:00 PM EDT, Fri May 17, 2013
Mario Balotelli has delivered his verdict on his time in the English Premier League -- the AC Milan striker couldn't be happier to have left England.
updated 7:04 AM EDT, Fri May 17, 2013
If you thought Preakness was the poor sister to Kentucky Derby, think again. CNN brings you top five facts from the prestigious horse race.
updated 7:45 PM EDT, Wed May 15, 2013
Natasha Kampusch was held for eight years in an Austrian man's basement. She talks about her road to recovery, exclusively to CNN.
updated 5:36 PM EDT, Wed May 15, 2013
From her hospital bed, Reshma tells CNN about the 17 days she spent trapped under nine stories of rubble in Bangladesh.
updated 6:12 PM EDT, Thu May 16, 2013
A room full of partygoers in San Francisco were given power over a cocktail-making robot controlled by their smartphones.
updated 11:57 AM EDT, Thu May 16, 2013
The cast of "Star Trek Into Darkness" take a break from fighting space villains to answer questions from CNN iReporters.
updated 7:48 AM EDT, Thu May 16, 2013
CNN brings you images capturing moments to remember. Look ahead to the future and chronicle our changing world.