The Indian authorities have given the couple a $12,000 check as compensation under the “victim compensation scheme”.
The gang-rape of a tourist in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand has once again raised the debate about sexual violence in India.
A 28-year-old Brazilian-Spanish woman and her Spanish partner, who were on a motorcycle trip, had stopped for the night last Friday in a remote area of Dumki to camp when the suspected attack took place.
By Tuesday, the police had arrested a total of eight men in connection with the case. According to the police, the men face “severe punishment” if they are found guilty of the act.
A couple who were victims of a violent attack are on a motorcycle trip around the world. They had traveled across Asia before arriving in India a few months ago. They are to continue their journey towards Nepal.
Over the weekend, the woman posted a video on her Instagram account with more than 310,000 followers. The video is no longer available on their social media channel.
British Broadcasting Corporation the BBC according to the video, the couple said that a group of men threatened to kill them.
– Seven men gang-raped me. They beat and robbed us, but not everything was taken, because they mainly wanted to rape me, the woman said in the video in Spanish.
Indian authorities have given the couple a $12,000 check as compensation under the “victim compensation scheme,” Indian media NDTV reported, according to news agency AFP.
On Tuesday, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency released video footage of the five suspects who were hooded, handcuffed and tied together with rope at a police station.
Rape still common in India
Sexual violence is still common in India, although numerous shocking and brutal sexual crimes have caused widespread attention and disapproval in recent years.
According to the official statistics of the Indian government, in 2016 more than a hundred rapes were recorded in India per day.
In 2018, India passed a law that makes rape of girls under the age of 12 punishable by death. The law also tightened prison sentences for the rape of older girls and women.
However, a large number of rapes remain unreported due to the fear of stigmatization of the victims and lack of investigation by the police. Rape convictions are still rare in India, and investigations have stalled for years.