Six arrested in India tourist gang rape case

A rape victim

Six men have been arrested following the gang-rape and robbery of a Swiss tourist in central India and are due to appear in court Monday, police officials said.

The Swiss woman and her husband were on a cycling tour across India and had set up camp near a forest in Datia district last week when a group of men allegedly assaulted them, beating the husband and raping the wife, according to police.

The case has focused fresh attention on sexual assaults in India following the gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi in December, which provoked outrage across the country and abroad.

The men accused of attacking the Swiss couple last week are members of a local tribe who live near where the couple were camping, said D.K. Arya, deputy inspector general of police.

Investigators have recovered valuables stolen from couple during the attack, police said Monday, including a laptop computer, a mobile phone and 10,000 rupees ($185).

The woman, who was briefly hospitalised after the attack, alleges that four of the men raped her, according to Inspector-General S.M. Afzal. The other two men arrested by police are suspected of involvement in robbing the couple, he said.