British tourist's ordeal: 'I shouted for help for an hour'

A British woman who jumped from a hotel balcony in India fearing a sexual assault has recalled her ordeal, saying that she shouted for help for more than an hour.

The 31-year-old from London said she had used furniture to barricade her hotel room door in Agra from two men.

According to the BBC, the manager and a guard from Hotel Agra Mahal appeared in court last week facing sexual harassment charges.

The woman, a dental hygienist, injured both legs while jumping, but said it could have been a lot worse.

She wanted to talk about her experience ‘because the shame of sexual assault made many people too scared to speak out’.

She said that her ordeal began when she was ‘surprised’ by a knock at her door at 3.45 am.

She denied reports she had asked for a wake-up call, saying she had set her phone alarm for 4.30 am to catch a taxi for an early train to Jaipur, the report said.

She said she had opened the door to find the hotel manager asking if she wanted to take a shower and offered a massage.

In an interview with Indian television, two Belgian tourists staying in the hotel said they had heard shouts and banging noises for over an hour.

It was still dark and no-one would stop to help.

But she said a passing rickshaw driver took her to a police station, staying with her for hours, helping to translate.

She also praised Agra Police and British consular staff sent to help her.

The woman, back in London, had been half-way through a six-week trip, intending to go on to China.

She said she would return to India, but was ‘never going to travel alone again,’ the report added