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Swiss tourist’s attackers sentenced to life in prison

The Swiss tourists attacked in March were reportedly making their way to the Taj Mahal monument by bicycle when they stopped to camp Keystone

An Indian court has sentenced six men to life in prison for gang-raping a Swiss tourist in March.

Each man was also ordered to pay a fine for the crime. 

“All the accused have been convicted and we are satisfied with the judgement. We had made strong arguments in the court,” public prosecutor Rajendra Tiwari told Indian media.

On March 15, the six attackers between the ages of 20 and 30 came across a Swiss couple camping in the woods in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. They bound the man and raped the woman, also stealing the couple’s mobile phone, a laptop computer and 10,000 rupees (CHF175).

Violence against women in India has been a hot topic since a series of violent crimes, including the gang-rape and beating of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student on a New Delhi bus, captured the world’s attention.

One woman is raped every 20 minutes in India, according to the country’s National Crime Records Bureau, though only four in ten are ever reported because victims fear being shamed by their families and communities.

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR