by The Spanish-Brazilian woman who was allegedly raped by seven men during a motorcycle trip to India remains “mentally strong” despite suffering permanent trauma, a social worker who spoke to the victim said.
The 28-year-old tourist was on a motorcycle trip with her 64-year-old husband when they were attacked by a group of men in Dumka district in 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.
On Tuesday, officials from Jharkhand took the couple with the task of ensuring they left India safely for the rest of their journey in Nepal, Dumka police chief Pitamber Singh Kherwar said. The Independent.
He said police have now arrested four suspects, three of whom were pictured with stakes and rope ties on Monday, saying: “We are very close to arresting all the suspects and we will reveal more details soon.”
Another police official said more suspects have been detained and are being questioned.
The incident sparked a huge public reaction in India, with leaders across the political spectrum condemning the attack. Before leaving the country the couple were given 1m compensation (more than £9,500), and police released an image of the husband posing for a picture while receiving the cheque. The picture itself sparked more outrage online.
Speaking to The Independent, Anjula Murmu, a social worker in Dumka who supported the victims, said: “The woman fought hard with her preparations but was overpowered by the men, who repeatedly raped her for almost three hours. She was emotionally damaged but not broken, and there is no escaping her visible trauma.”
The couple entered India at the Pakistan border in Amritsar in mid-July and had been traveling across the country for the past six months, Mr Murmu said.
They are travel bloggers with more than 600,000 followers on Instagram, and pitched a tent for Friday night in the scenic countryside, about 400km from Jharkhand’s state capital, Ranchi.
“Their tent started shaking and they heard voices around 7.30pm at night when the victim’s male partner started recording a video without warning,” she said.
“He responded with ‘hello’ and the people outside responded with hello, before they had a short conversation in which they appeared to be visibly drunk,” said Ms Murmu, who said she saw the video recording .
The group left but returned with more men and began an attack on the tent.
“The moment [the couple] they came out they were attacked, and some restrained the man while the others chased the woman, who tried to take a knife out of her shoes and even hid in the dark to save herself,” she said .
Struggling to fight back tears and their faces covered in bruises, the couple released a video on their Instagram saying they were beaten by seven men who held knives to their throats and raped the woman and restraining her male partner.
“Seven men made me. They have beaten and robbed us, although not many things [were taken] because what they wanted was to rape me,” she said in Spanish.
“My face looks like this, but that’s not what bothers me the most. I thought we were going to die. Thank God we are alive,” she said.
Jharkhand superintendent of police Mr Kherwar said it was a shameful incident and local officials were in touch with the Spanish Embassy, providing updates.
“We are disappointed by this shameful incident that happened in Dumka and do everything to overcome the victims,” he said.
He said that the couple insisted that they did not need to be escorted out of the country, but nevertheless a police team was sent with them as far as the Jharkhand border.
The Jharkhand High Court on Monday said it was aware of the situation and asked the state government to file a report on the matter on Thursday.
The amount of compensation given to the couple “would be converted into euros and transferred into her husband’s account”, Dumka deputy commissioner A Dodde told reporters.
But the police’s decision to release pictures and even a video of the husband being handed a check was widely criticized online. “As if the tragedy was not enough of a shameful monument… now this pure insensitivity in front of cameras!” said a user on X.
“What kind of nonsense is this, reducing the dignity of women to monetary compensation? It’s like she’s being violated again. And on top of that a photo session!! This is so insensitive, shameless!” said another.
The Spanish embassy said The Independent they were in contact with the couple and providing support.
“The Spanish Embassy remains in permanent contact with Spanish citizens in need, as is the case, and continues to be in active contact with the Indian authorities. The Embassy is very grateful to them for their cooperation,” she said.
They said they could not provide further details, citing data protection laws in Spain for consular cases.
The case has drawn new attention to the prevalence of rape and sexual violence in India, despite tough laws that include the death penalty for rape in some cases.
In 2022, an average of nearly 90 rapes were reported in India every day – meaning one woman was raped every 18 minutes – according to the National Crime Records Bureau, which documented 31,516 rape cases that year. The states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of cases.
Rights groups say the figures could be much higher because many women do not report cases, and the conviction rate is also still low in the country.
In 2012, the gang-rape and gruesome murder of a young woman on a bus in Delhi sparked massive protests across India and forced the government to change laws governing sexual assault in the country.
