American tourist reportedly gang-raped in India’s Manali
Indian members of NGO ‘Aastha’ hold placards as they march during a protest in Mumbai on December 27, 2012, for better safety for women following the rape of a student in the Indian capital. Protests across India over the last week against sex crimes have denounced the police and government, with the largest in New Delhi at the weekend prompting officers to cordon off areas around government buildings. One policeman was killed and more than 100 people injured in the violence.
A young American woman on Tuesday said she was raped by several men in the northern town of Manali in India, according to BBC News, which cited local police.
The 30-year-old filed a police report several hours after the incident, which reportedly took place around 1 a.m. local time in Manali, reported The New York Times.
"The victim described the alleged rapists as young men between the ages of 19 and 25,” Manali officer Neelchand Sharma told The Times.
No arrests had been reported as of Tuesday, but the incident adds to growing concern over sexual violence in India following the brutal gang-rape of a young Indian woman on a public bus in December.
Several other incidents involving foreigners as well as Indian children as young as five have been reported since then, adding to public outrage.
In this latest case, Indian police said the young American tourist accepted a ride with three men while trying to get back to her Manali guest house in India's northern Himachal Pradesh. She said she was taken to a remote area and raped instead, according to Reuters, which cited police sources. A local hospital report confirmed that she had been raped, The Times reported.
BBC said the woman had also been robbed. Police are said to have launched a search operation.
The US embassy there had no immediate comment on the report, said Reuters.
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