AGRA: An
Australian woman tourist was attacked and scratched by a monkey inside the
Taj Mahal on Sunday morning.
The incident took place around 11am, when the tourist, Christina, was clicking pictures of the monkeys at a video platform, near the Royal Gate entry.
The woman suffered scratches on her right leg and was immediately administered first-aid by officials. She, however, refused to visit the hospital for further treatment and went away.
According to ASI officials, the simian population in Agra has increased manifold in the past few years and civic authorities have failed to tackle this menace even after informing them in writing.
CISF officials said that the attack may have been triggered by visitors trying to go close to the animals in order to click photographs. Most of the foreign tourists try to touch the monkeys, which could be dangerous for them.
This was not the first time when monkeys have attacked tourists inside Taj Mahal. In fact, this was the second such incident in the past two months. On May 22, two women tourists from France were attacked and bitten by a group of monkeys, when they were on their way towards the main mausoleum. The duo had suffered several bloody scratches on their legs.
In 2016, two incidents of simian attacks on visitors had occurred. In August 2016, a monkey had snatched a Columbian tourist’s bag and pulled out some currency notes, many of which were later torn by the simian.
District officials said around Rs 2 crore was spent in 2016 for sterilisation of nearly 500 monkeys but the exercise had little impact. According to recent statistics, there are around 9,000 simians in Agra. Kept unchecked, their population is likely to exceed 2.16 lakh in six years, said wildlife experts.
Wildlife SOS, an NGO, had earlier collaborated with the district administration and Agra Development Authority for vaccination and sterilisation of monkeys in the city.
The woman suffered scratches on her right leg and was immediately administered first-aid by officials.