Swiss tourist allegedly gang-raped in India

NEW DELHI — A Swiss woman who was on a cycling trip in central India with her husband has been gang-raped by eight men, police said Saturday. The attack comes three months after the fatal gang-rape of a woman aboard a New Delhi bus outraged Indians.

Authorities detained and questioned 13 men in connection with the latest attack, which occurred Friday night as the couple camped in a forest in Madhya Pradesh state after bicycling from the temple town of Orchha, local police officer R.K. Gurjar said.

The men beat the couple and gang-raped the woman, he said. They also stole the couple’s mobile phone, a laptop computer and $185.

A photo showed the woman, 39, walking while being escorted by police to the hospital. Her face was concealed with a hood, a common practice in conservative India, where law does not allow rape victims to be identified publicly to protect them from the stigma attached to rape there.

Police detained 13 men and questioned them, Gurjar said. Six of the men were released after questioning.

Last month, the Swiss government issued a travel notice for India that included a warning about “increasing numbers of rapes and other sexual offenses” in the South Asian nation.