Swiss tourist gang-raped in central India

[NBCNews]

  A Swiss woman who was on a cycling trip in central India with her  husband has been gang-raped by eight men, police said Saturday. The  attack comes three months after the fatal gang-rape of a woman aboard a  New Delhi bus outraged Indians.

Authorities detained and  questioned 13 men in connection with the latest attack, which occurred  Friday night as the couple camped out in a forest in Madhya Pradesh  state after bicycling from the temple town of Orchha, local police  officer R.K. Gurjar said.

The men beat the couple and gang-raped  the woman, he said. They also stole the couple's mobile phone, a laptop  computer and 10,000 rupees ($185).


Follow @NBCNewsWorld The woman, 39, was treated at a hospital in the nearby city of Gwalior, Gurjar said.

A  photo showed the woman walking while being escorted by police to the  hospital. Her face was concealed with a hood, a common practice in  India, where law does not allow rape victims to be identified publicly  to protect them from the stigma attached to rape in the conservative  country.

Police detained 13 men and questioned them, Gurjar  said. Six of the men were released after questioning. No other details  were immediately available.

Indian television stations showed scores of police searching the forest where the attack occurred.

Swiss  Foreign Ministry spokesman Tilman Renz described the case as "deeply  disturbing" and said Swiss diplomats were assisting the couple.

The  diplomats called on Indian authorities "to do everything to quickly  find the perpetrators so that they can be held accountable," Renz said  in a statement.

Last month, the Swiss government issued a travel  notice for India that included a warning about "increasing numbers of  rapes and other intercourseual offenses" in the South Asian nation.

India  has seen outrage and widespread protests against attacks on women since  December's fatal gang-rape of a young woman on a moving bus in New  Delhi, the capital. The crime horrified Indians and set off nationwide  protests about India's treatment of women and spurred the government to  hurry through a new package of laws to protect them.

One of six  suspects in the December attack was found dead in a New Delhi jail this  past week. Authorities said he hanged himself, but his family and lawyer  insisted foul play was involved. A magistrate is investigating. Four  other men and a juvenile remain on trial for the attack.

 

The Associated Press.

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