51-year-old Danish woman gang-raped in India

A Danish 51-year-old woman has been gang-raped in the Indian capital after losing her way to her hotel, police and reports say.

In a new high-profile case of sexual assault against women in India, six men attacked the Danish woman late Tuesday after she asked them for directions near the New Delhi Railway Station.

They took her to a secluded spot before raping her at knifepoint; the Press Trust of India news agency reported citing unnamed police sources.

“She lost her way when this incident happened. Currently, the concerned police team has identified suspects and is interrogating them. The investigation is on,” AFP quoted Delhi police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat as saying Wednesday.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told her friend about the attack when she eventually reached her hotel in Paharganj near the city’s central Connaught Place, Bhagat said.

According to The Times of India newspaper, the women had been in India for about a week, travelling first to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal, before arriving in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The assault is the latest in a string of rape crimes that have sparked nationwide outrage and protests.

Few weeks ago, a Polish woman was allegedly drugged and raped by a taxi driver while travelling with her two-year-old daughter to New Delhi.

In a similar case last December, a 23-year-old medical student was gang-raped on a moving bus in the capital, Delhi. In that case, the woman and her male companion were brutally assaulted and she later died in hospital from her injuries.

The brutal incident sparked nationwide protest rallies and forced the Indian authorities to introduce tougher laws for crimes against women.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, one woman is raped every 20 minutes in the world’s second most populous country.