Arrests in second Indian bus rape attack
Weeks after an Indian student was gang raped on a bus in Delhi, police in the north of the country arrest six men in connection with a similar attack.
Police officials said a 29-year-old woman was the only passenger on a bus as she was travelling to her village in northern Punjab state on Friday night.
They said the driver did not stop at her village despite her repeated pleas and drove her to a desolate location, where he and the conductor took her to a nearby building.
They were joined by five friends, and they took turns raping her throughout the night, dropping her off at her village early on Saturday, police said.
The extent of her injuries are not known.
The six suspects arrested on Saturday appeared in a local court Sunday, according to police officer Gurmej Singh.
“The judge has granted three days of police remand. They will be produced in the court again after that,” Singh said, adding that the medical examination of the rape victim had taken place.
The brutal rape of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus in December set off an impassioned debate about what India needs to do to prevent such tragedies.
Protesters and politicians have called for tougher rape laws, police reforms and a transformation in the way the country treats women.