Spanish tourists identified as Vicente and Fernanda, having a total of 240 thousand followers on Instagram were attacked by a group of seven men in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
The couple had stopped their motorbikes and set up a tent to pass the night in the state’s Dumka district when the group found them. They repeatedly hit the man and gang-raped the woman.
“They had beaten us and robbed us, although not many things [were taken] because what they wanted was to rape me,” the 28-year-old woman said in an Instagram post while showing her bruised face.
SPANISH TOURIST RAPED BY 7 MEN IN INDIA
“They beat us. They put a knife to my neck and told me they were going to kill me.”
“Something has happened to us that we would not wish on anyone. Seven men have raped me. They have beaten us and robbed us, although not many things,… pic.twitter.com/1Zgcsy7j3x
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 3, 2024
“They raped me, they took turns while some watched and they stayed like that for about two hours”, Fernanda, who has joint Brazilian-Spanish nationality, said in an interview.
In another post, her male partner said he was hit several times in the head with a helmet and that his “mouth is destroyed”.
A patrol car rescued the duo late on Friday night after the assault and escorted them to a local hospital.
The local police has said that they have identified everyone involved and arrested four men who have confessed to rape.
However, three of them have appeared in court after the gang rape of a Spanish tourist on a motorbike trip with her husband, with police hunting four other suspects, reports said Monday. “We have formed a team to hunt the remaining suspects,” senior local police officer Pitamber Singh Kherwar told AFP.
On Sunday, three accused were seen being escorted into court with sacks on their heads by police officers holding ropes tied around their waists. The three were later remanded in custody.
The Spanish woman and her husband were also in court.
“We have to ensure strict punishment,” Kherwar said, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported Monday.
Kherwar said a special team including forensic officers had been formed to scour the scene of the attack, while another team was hunting more suspects.
“They are constantly raiding places,” Kherwar said in PTI’s report. “We will soon arrest the remaining accused.”
On average, in 2022, nearly 90 rapes were reported in India every day, meaning one woman is raped every 18 minutes according to the National Crime Records Bureau, which recorded 31,516 rape cases that year.
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh states recorded the highest number of cases.
