- Title: INDIA: Six suspects in Swiss gang-rape appear in court
- Date: 18th March 2013
- Summary: DATIA, MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA (MARCH 18, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4: 3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) EXTERIORS OF A COURT POLICE VEHICLE ARRIVING AT THE COURT ACCUSED STEPPING OUT OF A POLICE VEHICLE ACCUSED BEING ESCORTED BY POLICE OFFICIALS PEOPLE AND LAWYER STANDING AT THE COURT PREMISES ADVOCATES WALKING OUT OF A ROOM SIGNBOARD ACCUSED BEING ESCORTED BY POLICE OFFICIALS (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) LAWYER, VINOD SHARMA, SAYING: "Today, we presented the accused and requested the judge to allow them for a medical check-up, determination of age. The court has agreed for the same and has given them on a one day police remand because they have been targeted unnecessarily." ACCUSED WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) LAWYER, VINOD SHARMA, SAYING: "We will try our level best to prove them innocent, they have been false targeted, there should be a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case to nab the actual culprit. There are two juveniles Nitin and Rishi alias Baba." ACCUSED BEING ESCORTED BY POLICE OFFICIALS RELATIVE OF AN ACCUSED SITTING OUTSIDE THE COURT WOMEN STANDING OUTSIDE THE COURT
- Embargoed: 2nd April 2013 21:34
- Keywords:
- Location: India
- Country: India
- Topics: Crime
- Reuters ID: LVA4RVK4HUQ2GIJKZ4YR0TA8VGAD
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: Six suspects arrested for gang-raping a Swiss tourist appeared on Monday (March 18) in a court in central India's Madhya Pradesh state.
The six were arrested on Sunday (March 17) and accused of the gang-rape of a Swiss tourist who was camping with her husband in an Indian forest in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
The assault on the 39-year-old Swiss woman on Friday (March 15) night came three months after a 23-year-old physiotherapy student was gang-raped and beaten in a moving bus and thrown bleeding on to the street in a case that sparked outrage in the country. She died later in hospital in Singapore.
The Swiss woman and her husband were touring the state by bicycle and were camping overnight in the forest. Police said on Saturday that seven men attacked the couple in their tent and four of them raped the woman.
However, police investigation later found out that only six people were involved in the crime, the police said.
Those arrested are identified as Baba, Bhuta, Rampro, Bishnu, Gaja and Nitin. They all aged between 20 and 25 years and belong to a local tribe known as the Kanjar, Arya said. They were also carrying a firearm.
No information was immediately available on the defendants' account of events.
The woman and her husband have left the state and are now at the Swiss embassy in New Delhi.
Lawyers have requested the court to allow the accused for a medical check-up and age determination procedure.
Lawyer Vinod Sharma also informed that out of six, two accused namely Nitin and Rishi are juveniles and are unnecessarily being targeted in the case.
"We will try our level best to prove them innocent, they have been false targeted, there should be a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case to nab the actual culprit. There are two juveniles Nitin and Rishi alias Baba," said Sharma.
The latest incident has again turned the spotlight on the security of women in the world's largest democracy.
One woman is raped every 20 minutes in India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. But police estimate only four out of 10 rapes are reported, largely due to victims' fear of being shamed by their families and communities. - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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