13 held after Swiss tourist gang-raped
2013-03-16 22:22
New Delhi - A Swiss woman who was touring by bicycle with
her husband through the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh was gang-raped
by a group of eight men, police said Saturday.
Thirteen men were detained and questioned in connection with
the attack, which occurred on Friday night as the couple camped out in a forest
after bicycling from the temple town of Orchha, local police officer RK 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 was in a hospital on Saturday in the nearby city
of Gwalior, Gurjar said, adding that she and her husband apparently suffered no
major injuries.
Police detained 13 men and questioned them in connection
with the attack, he 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.
India has seen outrage and widespread protests against rape
and attacks on women since December's fatal gang-rape of a young woman in 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.
- AP
