Just saw this news being posted on both The Straits Times & Yahoo NewsRoom:
Swiss tourist gang-raped in India: police
Indian students and activists carrying placards at India Gate during a protest following the gang-rape of a student in New Delhi on Dec 19, 2012. A Swiss female tourist was gang-raped in rural central India, police said on Saturday, the latest victim of sexual violence against women in the South Asian nation. — FILE PHOTO: AFP
The woman was on a cycling trip with her husband in impoverished Madhya Pradesh state, when seven to eight men attacked the couple on Friday night, sexually assaulting the woman and robbing the pair, police said.
The attackers “tied up the man and raped the woman in his presence“, local police official S.M. Afzal told AFP, adding that they stole 10,000 rupees ($185) and a mobile phone from the woman.
The couple were on their way to the tourist destination of Agra, home to the iconic Taj Mahal monument, in northern India when they stopped to camp for the night in a village.
Indian media reports said the men were wielding sticks when they attacked couple.
After the attack, the rape victim, aged about 40, was admitted to hospital in Gwalior city, 212 miles (342 kilometres) from state capital Bhopal, local police official M.S. Dhodee said.
The victim was conscious on Saturday and speaking to authorities, police said. She told police that the couple were both Swiss, police said, but they added they had not yet seen their passports to confirm their nationality.
“The victims, who belong to Switzerland, put up a tent to stay overnight” when the attack occurred, Afzal said.
The other police official, Dhodee, told AFP that police were still investigating the case but added that “a rape case has been registered against seven unidentified people”.
A spokesman for the Swiss embassy in New Delhi could not be reached for comment.
Concern remains high in India over the safety and status of women and girls in the country of 1.2 billion. Rape is one aspect of a wide range of violence, including domestic assaults, against women in India that claims many thousands of lives each year, according to rights workers.
So to all female tourists planning to head to India – do take care!
It’s like despite the protests held previously for the fatal bus gang rape previously, the men there don’t really care. Like sometimes, I feel that the men there (not all) are worst than beasts.
This isn’t how you treat any women in the country – whether they are the local Indian women, or women tourists (the latter being the worst). This is really too much. And the worst thing is that she wasn’t alone. She was with her HUSBAND when this happened. And did they care? NO!
Beasts I tell you, BEASTS.
Regardless, I’m definitely staying away from India at any point in time right now.
What a freaking scary place.
P.s Noticing a lot of discontent now from Singaporeans about the rape cases in India because we have many Indian FT (e.g construction workers). What if they do this in Singapore as well?
