Indian police have arrested five men who confessed to gang-raping a Swiss tourist in central Madya Pradesh state.
The 39-year-old woman was on a cycling trip with her husband when they were attacked by a group of men at their forest campsite near a road after visiting the temple town of Orchha.
Deputy police inspector D.K. Arya said the men beat the husband and raped the woman in front of him. They stole a laptop, 10,000 rupees and a mobile phone from the couple.
Arya said six or seven men attacked the Swiss couple in their tent and at least four of them raped the woman, who was later treated at a local hospital and released.
The Swiss ambassador to India, Linus von Castelmur, said late Saturday that he had spoken with the couple and demanded a swift probe of the incident by Indian authorities.
The woman and her husband were on their way to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal. The journey was part of a three-month cycling tour from Mumbai to New Delhi.
The attack is the latest example of violent sexual assaults on women in India. It comes three months after outrage and nationwide protests erupted following the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student by five men and a juvenile on a bus in New Delhi last December.
That attack prompted demands that the government do more to protect women.
According to India's National Crime Records Bureau, one woman is raped every 20 minutes in India. But police say many incidents go unreported due to the stigma attached to such crimes.
The 39-year-old woman was on a cycling trip with her husband when they were attacked by a group of men at their forest campsite near a road after visiting the temple town of Orchha.
Deputy police inspector D.K. Arya said the men beat the husband and raped the woman in front of him. They stole a laptop, 10,000 rupees and a mobile phone from the couple.
Arya said six or seven men attacked the Swiss couple in their tent and at least four of them raped the woman, who was later treated at a local hospital and released.
The Swiss ambassador to India, Linus von Castelmur, said late Saturday that he had spoken with the couple and demanded a swift probe of the incident by Indian authorities.
The woman and her husband were on their way to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal. The journey was part of a three-month cycling tour from Mumbai to New Delhi.
The attack is the latest example of violent sexual assaults on women in India. It comes three months after outrage and nationwide protests erupted following the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student by five men and a juvenile on a bus in New Delhi last December.
That attack prompted demands that the government do more to protect women.
According to India's National Crime Records Bureau, one woman is raped every 20 minutes in India. But police say many incidents go unreported due to the stigma attached to such crimes.
