2013-03-18 17:56:44

India: arrests in rape of tourist


(Vatican Radio) Six men, all between the ages of 19 and 25 years, have been arrested by the police of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh in connection with the gang rape of a Swiss national on a cycling tour of the region. The 39-year-old victim and her husband were on a kind of adventure tour when on Friday, they reached a place called Datia, located within a forested area in the state. They had pitched a tent and settled down for the night when they were subjected to the sudden attack by a group of men whom they described as carrying guns. Listen to this report from Carol Andrade in India: RealAudioMP3

The woman was subjected to sexual assault and her husband was beaten up when he tried to protect her. They were on a three-month vacation and had visited the tourist town of Orcha and planned to cycle on to Agra when the crime took place at 9 pm. The gang also took away the couple’s possessions, including a laptop, a mobile and other things. In shock, the woman was treated for injuries in Gwalior before leaving for the capital. To do them credit, the police swung into vigorous action, detaining 20 people at first. On the basis of leads given to them, five men were arrested early on Sunday morning and a sixth was picked up later with a .12 bore gun. More importantly, and setting doubts to rest about their role in the crime, the police recovered the laptop and mobile phone as well as other things robbed from the couple. All were young, one of them had still to complete 20 years. The police also produced the men in front of the media.

On Monday the gang was produced in court and remanded to custody. All of them are reported to have admitted to their crime, in itself unimportant since Indian courts do not admit confessions unless backed up by evidence. But for once, the police are confident that they have enough to put them away for a very long time indeed, given the mood with regard to sexual violence against women, especially gang rape.









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