Swiss woman gang-raped in India

PanARMENIAN.Net - 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, March 16. The attack comes three months after the fatalgang-rape of a woman aboard a New Delhi bus outraged Indians, AP reported.

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).

The woman, 39, was treated at a hospital in the nearby city of Gwalior, Gurjar said, adding that she and her husband apparently suffered no major injuries.

A photo showed the woman, her identity concealed with a hood, walking while being escorted by police to the hospital. Indian law does not allow rape victims to be identified publicly to protect victims from the stigma that is 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.