Six men have been arrested by police investigating the gang-rape of a Swiss woman who was touring India.
Police said Sunday the group of farmers were arrested for allegedly assaulting the 39-year-old woman on Friday night in a remote forest in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, AFP reports.
The Swiss woman and her husband were touring the state by bicycle and were camping overnight in the forest ahead of a trip to the Taj Mahal when the woman was attacked while her husband was tied up. Police have reportedly recovered some of the couple’s belongings that were stolen during the attack.
The five men, aged 20-25, face charges of rape and robbery. A sixth suspect, who was 19 years old, was detained in neighboring Uttar Pradesh state and was being returned to the area, according to AFP.
However, a police official told BBC News there were no confessions over the gang rape, contradicting earlier reports. He added that several people were being questioned over the attack and no formal arrests had been made.
The woman and her husband have left the state and are now at the Swiss embassy in New Delhi, authorities said.
The Swiss Ministry for Foreign Affairs said a decisive step will soon be made “in the interest of the two concerned Swiss citizens”.
The brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student in a moving bus in New Delhi recently sparked outrage in the country, with protesters demanding the death penalty for her attackers and official action to protect women.
