Police in India said Tuesday they have now arrested eight people in connection with assault and gang rape of two Spanish travel bloggers late last week in eastern Jharkhand state.
Police said they found the two — who are husband and wife — late Friday in the state’s Dumka district where the couple had been camping. Police said the two looked as though they had been assaulted. When they were taken to a local hospital, the wife told the doctor she had been raped.
Three people were initially arrested Saturday, and, at a news conference Monday, police announced they had arrested five more men in connection with the incident.
Police Superintendent Pitamber Singh Kherawer told reporters police had taken confessions from the men and were preparing charges.
The couple had been documenting their trip on the social media site Instagram, where they have more than 200,000 followers. On Saturday, the husband and wife posted a video detailing their account of the assault at knifepoint. The video has since been taken down.
The case once again calls attention to India’s high levels of sexual violence. India’s National Crime Records Bureau reports 31,516 rape cases were recorded in 2022, an average of 86 cases per day. Experts suggest the actual figure is likely much higher due to the stigma connected with the crime as well as a lack of faith in police.
The issue was brought into international attention following the 2012 gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus. The attack sparked nationwide protests and prompted new laws and stronger penalties for rape.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
