She told police that she was abducted by 3 men while sightseeing with friends in Karaikal, a port city in Puducherry. PHOTO: FILE
NEW DELHI: A 20-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped on Christmas Eve in south India, media reports said Friday, the latest in a string of sexual attacks reported in the country.
The reports of the latest assault came two days before India was due to mark the first anniversary of the death of a student who was gang raped on a bus in an attack that shocked the nation.
The woman who was assaulted on Christmas Eve told police she was abducted by three men while sightseeing with friends in Karaikal, a port city in Puducherry, the Times of India newspaper and TV networks reported.
One of the men raped her at a secluded spot before freeing her, the Times said.
She called for help but then another group of seven men attacked her as she was being escorted to a safe place, the paper said.
Six of the men raped her, it added.
"One case has been reported. There are 15 accused (persons) and one victim," senior police officer Monika Bhardwaj told reporters.
Bhardwaj said three of the accused "are absconding" while the rest have been caught.
The Times of India said police had registered preliminary cases of abduction, gang-rape and criminal intimidation against the accused.
The woman has been admitted to hospital where police will record her statement, the CNN-IBN TV network reported.
The issue of sex crimes in India has received widespread attention since last year's gang rape of the 23-year-old student in New Delhi.
The physiotherapy student died on December 29, nearly two weeks after being attacked by a gang of six men on a moving bus as she returned home from the cinema with a male companion.
The brutality of the attack and her subsequent death shook the country and shone a global spotlight on India's widespread mistreatment of women.
The attack also prompted the Indian parliament to pass tougher laws against rapists and other sex-crime offenders.
But a string of other sex attacks, including against foreign tourists and a photojournalist in Mumbai this year, has highlighted the continuing dangers facing women in India.
COMMENTS (17)
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Manish, soon you will also accept that your country elected a mass murder terrorist as your prime minister. Too bad we can never say that our general public elected the mullahs or any other mass murderer into power.
@Manish Rohera:
Why are you so bothered about my country??? Also, look at other comments by your indian nationals on other news items on this site, the way they jump to spread hate against my country and religion is saddening and unbelievable.
@amir:
They are commenting on pakistani news articles & denying this news as usual.
@Manish Rohera: Mind your own country and business. Why does Pakistan bother indians so much??? Why are you so active on a pakistani site & commenting on every pakistani news item ??? You claim india is a first world shining and prosperous country, so why all this hate???
@PakistaniLoyalist: I'm no apologist I accept my country is misogynistic would you accept yours is breeding ground for terrorist we can only correct ourselves when we accept problems I have accepted faultiness in my country hope you accept too
Christmas Eve? What that has to do with the crime? ET please elaborate.
why the apologetic attitude by indians, if this was in Pakistan, indian trolls here would've been 1000 times more active & aggressive
@Moti: There is nothing wrong in reporting this... Most of these rapes are gone unreported because the victims are not confident about the law authorities that they will get justice....
By reporting these,politicians and law makers will know that we need tougher laws and more security for women.....
The fact that these rapes occur is a shame to our nation and by hiding these news isnt going to decrease it
This is a shameful act and should be condemned. As far as I know, Puducherry is a safe place and I am surprised that it happened there. The awareness to these types of crimes has increased and the law enforcement agencies are more efficient and vigilant now than ever. Still a long way to go and hope things will keep improving.
This is not the first time this has happened in India. Media should stop reporting these kind of events since they are a common occurrence in India.
R@pes are becoming habit of indians...its not the safe country for womens anymore
not surprising at all...its a country where top officials claim nobody can die of cold (reference to death of 37 children in Muzaffarnagar camps due to cold)
This is just shameful. I do not understand what drives these men to commit such a heinous crime when they know they will eventually be caught. Ever since massive public outcry broke out after the Delhi Gang rape, all the accused of sexual crimes against women have been caught by the Law enforcement in record time in almost all of the states.
The police have become sensitised to Rape and so has the public, but I still dont get why people would rape a woman knowing fully well that pretty soon the victim is going to lodge an Report with the cops, that the media would blow it up and that the state's police force will launch a massive manhunt for them. These are a breed of sick men who care more about satisying an impulsive primal urge than their own lives or the lives of others.
Also its a good thing that the public & the law enforcement have become so sensitive when it comes to Rape, atleast the culprits are being caught and even though that is no consolation for the victim and her family, in the End they do get Justice.
Unlike Pakistan where the Rapists who shamelessly assaulted a 5 year old in Lahore have still not been caught. and even if they are caught use their influence to force the victims family to forgive them in the name of God or accept a hefty sum of blood money.
What is commendable is that such crimes are being reported, a certain awareness is being creadted and civil society is applying pressure on the legal and civil adminstrations to do something about it..........and something is being done, no matter if the progress is slow. Now, that is better than no reporting and zero convictions for rape because we are afraid to face the truth.