SALON

Sunday, Mar 17, 2013 6:59 PM UTC

Another brutal gang rape sends shockwaves through India

Six men are in custody for the gang rape of a Swiss tourist who was camping in central India

By

Topics: Madhya Pradesh gang rape, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence Against Women, ,

Another brutal gang rape sends shockwaves through India (Credit: AP)

Indian media are reporting that five men have confessed to gang raping a Swiss tourist in central India. Police continue to search for two other men believed to have been involved in the attack. Twenty people have also been detained for questioning, authorities say.

The woman was camping with her husband in the central state of Madhya Pradesh when she was allegedly attacked by the group of men. Local police superintendent C. S. Solanki told the Press Trust of India that the men beat the couple, stole their belongings and brutally gang raped the woman after tying her husband to a tree.

According to NDTV, the Madhya Pradesh Police have recovered stolen items belonging to the Swiss couple from one of the men in custody. “We have arrested six accused persons who raped the Swiss woman and recovered her mobile and laptop,” SM Afzal, Inspector General Chambal Range, said.

The attack comes only months after the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student on a moving Delhi bus. The young woman died of injuries sustained during the assault, and the profile of the case prompted stricter laws on sexual assault in the country.

Indian law has increased rape prison terms to a maximum of 20 years, and new measures have made voyeurism, stalking, acid attacks and the trafficking of women punishable under criminal law.

The new measures — while strongly criticized by Indian feminists for not going far enough and only selectively accepting the recommendations of the Justice JK Verma commission – may help to improve the low rates of reporting and prosecution of violence against women in India. As Time Magazine reports:

Figures from India’s National Crime Records Bureau show that a woman is raped every 20 minutes in India. However, many incidents of rape and other sexual crimes go unreported due to the stigma attached to such crimes in the conservative country. India’s conviction rate for rapes and other crimes against women is among the lowest in the world.

The Swiss embassy has urged for a “swift investigation and for justice to be done.” Adding that the couple’s “health and treatment is the priority of the moment.”

The couple left Madhya Pradesh for Delhi to wait while the investigation unfolds, according to police.

 

Katie McDonough is an assistant editor for Salon, focusing on lifestyle. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com. More Katie Mcdonough.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 6 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations