German attacked in Uttar Pradesh for ‘ignoring’ man’s greetings at rail station

india

Updated: Nov 05, 2017 00:29 IST

A German tourist was assaulted at Robertsganj railway station in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra on Saturday, allegedly because he inadvertently ignored a man’s greetings, police said.

Holger Erik, a Berlin native, was referred to Mirzapur hospital for treatment.

After getting off a train, the German was looking for directions at the stations to go to Agori fort for his research when Aman Kumar greeted him. The tourist didn’t respond and Kumar was offended.

Kumar then pushed him to the ground and slapped him a number of times, police said.

A passerby alerted cops about the assault and Kumar, an electrician with a private company, was arrested. A case was registered against him.

“The tourist was immediately rushed to hospital,” railway police sub-inspector Harikesh Ram Azad said over the phone from Sonbhadra.

This was the second attack on foreign tourists in UP in a fortnight after a Swiss couple – Quentin Jeremy Clerc and girlfriend Marie Droz — was thrashed at Fatehpur Sikri on October 26.

The couple, both 24, was chased by a group of four youth and hit with sticks and stones.

Clerc suffered a fractured skull and nerve damage. Droz too had a number of broken bones.

The unprovoked attack prompted the foreign ministry to seek a report from the UP government.

State director general of police Sulkhan Singh issued a list of guidelines, including deployment of policemen in plainclothes, more patrolling and installation of CCTV cameras, to prevent such crimes at tourist spots.