NEW DELHI (AP) -- 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).
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 sexual 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.
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Associated Press writer Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.
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