Indian police parade Swiss cyclist gang-rape suspects

Five men, all farmers aged between 20-25, were wearing jeans and shirts and had their faces covered with black cloth.


Afp March 18, 2013
Demonstrators carrying placards during a protest against Delhi gang-rape. PHOTO: REUTERS

DATIA: Police in central India have paraded a group of men on television who were arrested over the gang-rape and robbery of a Swiss cyclist who was assaulted while on a holiday with her husband.

Five men, all farmers aged between 20 and 25, were wearing jeans and shirts and had their faces covered with black cloth when they were lined up at a police station late Sunday in Datia district of Madhya Pradesh state.

In her statement to the police, the 39-year-old woman said she had been raped by four men, with two others present at the time of the assault late on Friday as the couple pitched their tent in a remote forested area.

"According to the statement of the woman in FIR (first information report), four people had raped her. All the four accused have confessed to gang-raping the woman," said Dilip Arya, the deputy inspector general of police.

A sixth suspect, 19, was detained Sunday in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh state and was being returned to the area.

After being treated in a local hospital, the couple are now in New Delhi recovering from the attack.

The 30-year-old husband was tied up as the woman was assaulted and the pair were also robbed, police said.

The home minister of Madhya Pradesh has complained about foreign tourists not informing local police about their movements as required.

"This is the system but it is not being followed," the Press Trust of India news agency quoted Uma Shankar Gupta as saying.

The latest incident, which Monday made it to the front pages of major Indian newspapers, comes three months after the fatal gang-rape of a physiotherapy student on a bus in New Delhi.

That attack spurred outrage and countrywide protests over the treatment of women in Indian society and laws dealing with sexual crimes.

COMMENTS (7)

Chill | 11 years ago | Reply

Who in their right mind would camp out in a deserted area of a foreign country at NIGHT, especially in India?? This is article calls for a lesson on common sense and using street smarts when traveling abroad (and locally). Be proactive, exercise sound judgement and use your instincts when staying in a foreign country. I am not defending the actions of the farmers, but the couple should have thought this through before making this unfortunate decision. They should have stayed in highly populated areas, and traveled to their destination in the daytime, where everyone including police are on the streets.

Blunt | 11 years ago | Reply

Welcome to the Rape Capital !!

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