Indian court holds Swiss couple

Indian policemen escort Swiss national, William Marti, to a Bombay court on Saturday Keystone

A court in India is to continue holding a Swiss couple in a Bombay jail for another week, pending the outcome of a criminal investigation against them. They are accused of sexually abusing street children in India and producing child pornography.

At a trial on Saturday, the state prosecutor, M.K. Tripathi, argued against releasing the couple until the investigation into their alleged criminal activities is completed.

According to Tripathi, Interpol is conducting an investigation to unearth Internet sites showing pornographic material produced by the couple.

Acting on a tip-off from a non-governmental organisation, police said they had raided the couple’s hotel room in mid-December, and found them filming two naked street children.

Bombay police said William Marti, 59, and his wife, Lily, 56, had lured children to their hotel and photographed them having sex with each other. They added that the couple had also engaged in sexual acts with children.

The couple has denied all of the accusations and told the court that the police had altered the photos found in their hotel room. They also said they had never asked children to pose naked for them.

The police inspector in charge of the case, Shirish Indamdar, acknowledged that the photos had been digitally altered, but only to protect the identity of the victims. He also said the couple had “acknowledged their crime”.

swissinfo with agencies