Monkeys attack Spanish tourist inside Taj Mahal
India Today
A Spanish tourist was attacked by monkeys inside the Taj Mahal premises on Monday. The woman tourist was admitted to a nearby hospital for treatment.
A woman tourist from Spain was attacked by a gang of monkeys inside the Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh's Agra on Monday. Efforts to get rid of the monkey menace haven't borne fruit as animal protection laws and religious beliefs do not permit hunting down or forcibly relocating monkeys.
The tourist, identified as Sandra, sustained injuries in the monkey attack. She was admitted to a nearby hospital.
In another attack, the monkeys injured an 8-year-old child, who was bitten in the back and had to be provided with emergency medical aid by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials. The kid returned home with his parents, without seeing the Taj.
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The ASI officials claimed that they had posted four employees to keep a check on the gangs of monkeys that roam the monument premises and protect the tourists from their attacks, but that did not prevent the attack on the Spanish tourist.
Reacting to the incident, Agra Tourist Welfare Chamber secretary Vishal Sharma said that ASI should team up with the forest department and find a way to get rid of the monkey menace.
The Taj Mahal, the iconic 17th-century monument, attracts lakhs of tourists from the country and abroad every year.
