The Spanish-Brazilian woman who was allegedly gang-raped by seven men during a motorbike tour in India remained “mentally strong” despite lasting trauma, a social worker who spoke to the victim said.
The 28-year-old tourist, while on a motorcycle tour with her 64-year-old husband, was attacked by a group of men in the Dumka district of the eastern state of Jharkhand on Friday night. They had already traveled to Pakistan and Bangladesh as part of their South Asia tour and were heading north towards Nepal at the time.
Dumka police chief Pitamber Singh Kherwar said on Tuesday the couple was escorted out of Jharkhand by authorities tasked with ensuring their safe departure from India for the remainder of their journey in Nepal. Independent.
Police have now arrested four suspects, three of whom were photographed blindfolded and roped on Monday, he said, adding: “We are very close to arresting all the suspects and will be releasing more details shortly.”
Another police official said more suspects were detained and interrogated.
The incident triggered a massive public outcry in India and the attack was condemned by leaders across the political spectrum. The couple were given R1 million (more than £9,500) in compensation before they left the country, and police released a photo of the husband posing for a photo while receiving the check. The image itself sparked further outrage online.
talk with IndependentAnjula Murmu, a social worker supporting the victims in Dumka, said: “The woman struggled mightily with the preparers but was overpowered by the men who raped her repeatedly for close to three hours. She was emotionally torn but not broken and expressed visible trauma “It cannot be explained in words.”
Ms Murmu said the couple entered India through the Pakistan border in Amritsar in mid-July and had been traveling across the country for the last six months.
They are travel bloggers with more than 600,000 followers on Instagram, and on Friday they had pitched a tent in the scenic countryside, about 400 kilometers from Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state.
“Their tent started shaking and around 7.30pm they heard noises when the victim’s male partner began carelessly recording a video,” he said.
“He responded with ‘hello’ and those outside responded with hello as well, followed by a short conversation in which they appeared visibly intoxicated,” said Ms Murmu, who said she had seen the video recording.
The group left but returned with more men and began attacking the tent.
“Moment [the couple] “When they came out, they were attacked, some restrained the man while others attacked the woman, the woman tried to take a knife out of her shoe and even hid in the dark to save herself,” he said.
The couple, whose faces were covered in bruises and trying to hold back their tears, published a video on their Instagram account stating that they were beaten by seven men who held a knife to their throats and raped the woman while holding her male partner down.
“Seven men raped me. They beat us and robbed us, although it wasn’t much [were taken] because what they wanted was to rape me,” she said in Spanish.
“My face looks like this, but that’s not what upsets me the most. I thought we were going to die. “Thank God we are alive,” he said.
Jharkhand police chief Mr Kherwar said it was a shameful incident and local authorities were in touch with the Spanish embassy and providing them with updates.
“We are disheartened by this shameful incident that took place in Dumka and we are doing our best to catch all the culprits,” he said.
He said the couple insisted that they did not need to be taken out of the country, but still a police team was sent with them to the Jharkhand border.
The Jharkhand High Court on Monday said it was aware of the case and asked the state government to submit a report on the matter by Thursday.
Dumka deputy commissioner A Dodde told reporters that the compensation amount given to the couple “will be converted into euros and transferred to her husband’s account”.
But the police’s decision to release photos and even video showing the husband being given a check was widely criticized online. “As if the tragedy wasn’t a monument to shame enough… now this brazen insensitivity is in front of the cameras!” one user said on X.
“What kind of nonsense is this, reducing women’s dignity to monetary compensation? It’s like being violated again. And on top of that, a photoshoot!! This is so insensitive, What a shameless show!” said another.
Spanish embassy announced Independent They were in contact with the couple and providing support.
“The Spanish Embassy remains in constant contact with Spanish citizens in need and actively liaises with the Indian authorities. “The embassy is grateful to them for their cooperation,” he said.
It said it could not provide further details regarding consular cases in Spain, citing data protection laws.
The case shed new light on the prevalence of rape and sexual violence in India, despite strict laws that in some cases impose the death penalty on rapists.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, which documented 31,516 rape cases that year, an average of close to 90 rapes per day were reported in India in 2022; This means that a woman is raped every 18 minutes. The states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have reported the highest number of cases.
Human rights groups say the figures could be much higher because many women do not report cases, but the country also has a low conviction rate.
The gang rape and gruesome murder of a young woman on a bus in Delhi in 2012 triggered massive protests across India and forced the government to change the laws governing sexual assault in the country.