Swiss woman gang raped while on India cycle tour

A Swiss woman who was on a cycling trip in Central India with her husband has been gang-raped by eight men.

NEW DELHI // A Swiss woman who was on a cycling trip in Central India with her husband was gang-raped by eight men, police said yesterday. The attack came 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 on Friday night as the couple camped out in a forest in Madhya Pradesh state after bicycling from the temple town of Orchha, said RK Gurjar, a local police officer. Six of the men were released after questioning.

The men beat the couple and gang-raped the woman, he said. They also stole a mobile phone, a laptop computer and 10,000 rupees (Dh679) from the pair.

The woman was treated at a hospital in the nearby city of Gwalior, Mr Gurjar said, adding that she and her husband had apparently suffered no major injuries.

A photo showed the woman - her identity concealed with a hood - walking to the hospital while being escorted by police.

India has experienced outrage and widespread protests against rape and attacks on women since December's fatal gang rape of a young woman on a 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.