5 men confess to gang rape of Swiss tourist in central India

Five men confessed to the gang rape of a Swiss tourist in central India, according to reports Sunday.

The Swiss woman, 39, had been on a three-month cycling and camping trip with her husband in central Madhya Pradesh state when raped on Friday night.

CBS wrote that the couple, who had visited the temple town of Orchha and were planning to cycle 130 miles to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal, had pitched their tent in a forest.

Although more than 20 people had been detained in connection with the attack, seven or eight of them were said to have approached the couple's tent, "tied up the man and raped the woman in his presence," Agence France-Presse reported.

According to CNN, the attackers stole a laptop, around $185 and a mobile phone.

The woman was hospitalized and later released, CNN wrote. Swiss ambassador to India, Linus von Castelmur, had spoken with the couple, later saying in 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 came three months after the fatal gang-rape of a woman aboard a New Delhi bus, a crime that sparked a national debate about laws to protect women.

The Swiss government only last month issued a travel warning about "increasing numbers of rapes and other sexual offenses."

Police said that they would provide more information at a later date.

However, it noted, confessions in police custody were inadmissible in court and could be retracted.