India: Tourist Gang-Raped And Husband Beaten

The Swiss victim was with her husband when they were attacked by up to eight men in another shocking case for India.

4:36pm UK, Saturday 16 March 2013

Video: Police in Madhya Pradesh state are investigating the attack

A Swiss tourist has been gang-raped in India during a cycling trip in the country with her husband.

The pair were in the impoverished Madhya Pradesh state when they were attacked by seven to eight men while they were camping.
The perpetrators tied up the man and raped the woman in his presence, local police official S M Afzal said.
They also stole 10,000 rupees (£122) and a mobile phone from the woman.
The attack comes just a few days after the man accused of leading the fatal gang rape of a student on a New Delhi bus was found hanged in his prison cell.
Police say Ram Singh took his own life in the high-security Tihar jail, where he had been on suicide watch in an isolated cell.
The case made headlines around the world and raised the issue of sexual violence against women in India.
The student's internal injuries were so horrific she died two weeks later in a hospital in Singapore despite surgery to try to save her.

A security official at the scene of the attack

The latest attack happened at a village near Datia, where the 39-year-old woman and her husband were staying.
They had stopped there on their way from Orchha to the tourist destination of Agra, home to the iconic Taj Mahal monument.
Police said 13 men were detained in connection with the attack. Six of them were later released.
According to the woman's husband, a group of seven men with wooden sticks overpowered him.
He said four of them sexually assaulted his wife and then beat him up.
The woman was taken to a hospital in Gwalior, where a medical examination confirmed that attack.
Swiss foreign ministry spokesman Tilman Renz described the case as "deeply disturbing" and said Swiss diplomats were assisting the couple.
The chairman of India's national commission for women, Mamata Sharma, slammed the provincial government of Madhya Pradesh over its failure to curb violence against women.
She said: "The government should pay attention towards what is happening with the foreigners.

The couple were travelling to Agra and were attacked near Datia

"Many incidents of violence against women have come into the limelight in Madhya Pradesh but the government is completely insensitive towards them.
"The accused should be punished and we should see what kind of image of India we are presenting to the outside world. The government should take strict action."
Sky's Alex Rossi, reporting from Delhi, said: "This is another shocking case of violence against women, highlighting the very real problems that women face in this country on a day-to-day basis."
He added: "Foreign tourists, especially single women, face problems of unwanted sexual harassment in this country. This area of Madhya Pradesh in central India is known for its banditry. It is fairly lawless and it is also very poor."