Swiss Tourist Gang Raped in Front of Husband in India
Police are investigating the gang-rape of a tourist in central India, the latest black eye for the country over violence against women.
A Swiss couple was camping near a forest in India's Datia district when a group of men beat the husband and raped his wife, the district's deputy superintendent of police, R.S. Prajapati, told CNN. There were between five and seven attackers, he said.
The couple arrived in Mumbai on February 3 and were on a cycling tour across the country, said D.K. Arya, deputy inspector general of police.
The attackers stole a laptop, 10,000 rupees (US $185) and a mobile phone, he said. The victims went to police and the woman was hospitalized and later released.
Twenty people have been detained for questioning, Arya said.
The couple is staying at a guesthouse in the Datia district while the investigation unfolds, he said.
The Swiss ambassador to India, Linus von Castelmur, has spoken with the couple and offered any support they will need.
"Their health and treatment is the priority of the moment," the ambassador said in a statement. "The embassy has also been in touch with the local authorities and has requested for swift investigation and for justice to be done."
The attack comes at a time in India when there are calls for stricter laws on sexual assault and changes in cultural attitudes toward women.
In December a 23-year-old woman was gang-raped on a New Dehli bus, spurring protests in India, where most women have stories of sexual harassment and abuse on public transportation or on the streets, according to the Indian Council on Global Relations. That woman later died in a Singapore hospital.
A panel appointed by India's home affairs minister as a result of the case criticized Indian attitudes toward sexual assault and called for policy changes, including creating an offense of gang-rape punishable by at least 20 years in prison, making it a crime for police to fail to investigate sexual assault complaints and making it illegal to consider character or previous sexual experience of the victim at a criminal trial.
Suspect Identified in last hour:
Turkish police have identified the man suspected of killing American tourist Sarai Sierra, whose body was found earlier this month, CNN affiliate CNN Turk reported Thursday.
Police are now looking for the suspect, identified only as "Ziya T.," in the southern province of Hatay, where he has family, CNN Turk reported.
Turkish police are looking for a suspect in the death of American tourist Sarai Sierra, identified only as "Ziya T."
Police distributed a picture of him at all border checkpoints in case he tries to leave the country.
Sierra, a mother and amateur photographer from Staten Island, New York, went missing January 22 while on a solo trip. Her body was found February 2 near ancient stone walls in Istanbul, according to the semi-official Anatolian news agency.
Police suspect the 33-year-old was killed at a different location than where she was found.
Sierra went to Turkey on January 7 and was due to return home January 22.
Earlier this month, CNN Turk reported police detained a Turkish man with whom Sierra was in contact.
Authorities collected DNA samples from 21 people, including three foreigners. It was not immediately known whether "Ziya T." was among them.
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