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Danish tourist gang-raped in Delhi Danish tourist gang-raped in Delhi
(about 4 hours later)
A Danish tourist was gang-raped near a popular central shopping area in Delhi after she lost her way and asked for directions back to her hotel, according to police. Ten men have been detained in Delhi after a Danish tourist told police she was gang-raped when she lost her way in the Indian capital and asked for directions back to her hotel.
The attack on Tuesday is the latest case to focus international attention on rape and violence against women in India. The attack, which occurred on Tuesday, is the latest of a series of cases that have focused international attention on a wave of sexual violence towards women in India.
The 51-year-old woman was also robbed and beaten in the attack, which happened in the afternoon near Connaught Place, said police spokesman Rajan Bhagat. The woman managed to reach her hotel in the evening and the owner called police. No arrests have been made. Police officials said the 51-year-old woman was also robbed and beaten in the attack, which happened in the afternoon in narrow streets near Connaught Place, a popular central shopping centre and one of Delhi's tourist attractions. The tourist, who was returning from India's National Museum on foot, managed to reach her hotel later in the evening and the owner called the police.
"When she came, it was miserable," said Amit Bahl, owner of the Amax hotel. He said the woman was crying and "not in good shape". "It was miserable," said Amit Bahl, owner of the Amax hotel. "I am really ashamed that this happened."
"I am really ashamed that this happened," said Bahl. The woman has now returned to Denmark.
The problem of sexual violence in India has gained widespread attention since the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in December 2012. Public fury over the case has led to more stringent laws that doubled prison terms for rape to 20 years and criminalised voyeurism and stalking. "She has already left India by air and is on her way home," Rajeev Sharma, assistant commissioner with the Delhi police, told the Danish broadcaster TV2. "But we need a medical examination of the Danish woman, so we are still in contact with the Danish embassy."
But for many women, particularly the poor, daily indignities and abuse continue unabated and the new laws have not made the streets any safer. Ranjana Kumari, director of India's Centre for Social Research, said India's conservative, patriarchal traditions lead men to use rape as a tool to instil fear in women. Delhi police confirmed that a robbery and rape case had been "registered". "We are questioning a group of men," said Rajan Bhagat, a police spokesman.
"This mindset is not changing," she said. "It's a huge challenge." The problem of sexual violence in India was highlighted by the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old physiotherapist on a bus in Delhi in December 2012.
Experts say the rapid growth of India's cities and the yawning gulf between rich and poor are exacerbating the problem of sexual violence, with young men struggling to prove their traditional dominance in a changing world. Cultural stigmas, police apathy and judicial incompetence have long made it difficult for women to even report rapes. The case prompted grief and outrage across India, with thousands taking to the streets in protests demanding tougher laws, better policing and a wholesale shift in cultural attitudes. The United Nations asked India, the world's second most populous country, to ensure security for women.
Still, there has been a surge in the number of rapes being reported recently, suggesting that women are emboldened to speak up. Between January and October last year, 1,330 rapes were reported in Delhi and its suburbs, compared with 706 for all of 2012, according to government figures. But though prison terms for rape have been stiffened, stalking made a criminal offence and gender sensitivity programmes introduced for some police officers, there appears to have been little change on the ground.
Last March, a Swiss woman who was cycling with her husband in central India was gang-raped. These cases threaten India's lucrative tourism industry. Last year, the tourism ministry launched a campaign, I Respect Women, to reassure travellers. Vrinda Grover, a campaigner and lawyer, said the most recent attack showed that "every day is a dangerous day for the women of Delhi".
"That this happened where it did is stunning. Women are most vulnerable, but Delhi police are not ensuring basic security. Anyone can be robbed or mugged. We need systematic measures, not soundbites," she told the Guardian.
Every week India's media describe attacks on women across the country, often involving several men and frequently resulting in the death of the victim.
On Wednesday, newspapers reported the gang-rape of a teenager in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Last week a 13-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped and "tortured" before being killed in Uttarakhand's Haridwar district. In southern Andhra Pradesh, nine men arrested earlier this month reportedly told police they had raped 59 women in the past two years.
The eastern state of West Bengal has emerged as a particular blackspot. Pranab Mukherjee, India's president, recently met the parents of a 16-year-old who was gang-raped twice in October and then set on fire. She died of her injuries. The second rape occurred as she was returning from a police station where she reported the first attack. Authorities have been criticised for failing to ensure her safety.
The exact causes of the current wave of sexual violence – and its extent – are hotly debated. Among other factors, analysts blame rapid urbanisation, fast-changing gender roles, bad urban planning, poor policing and deep-rooted social attitudes.
Ranjana Kumari, director of the pro-feminist thinktank the Centre for Social Research, said India's conservative and patriarchal traditions led men to use rape as a tool to instil fear in women.
"This mindset is not changing. It's a huge challenge," she said.
Between January and October last year, 1,330 rapes were reported in Delhi and its suburbs, compared with 706 for all of 2012, according to government figures. Police officials say the rise may indicate that women are becoming more likely to lodge complaints about crimes.
News of the attack on the Danish tourist comes weeks after a Polish woman said she was drugged and raped by a taxi driver while travelling with her two-year-old daughter to New Delhi.
Last year saw a series of incidents involving foreigners. In March a British woman jumped out of the window of her hotel room in Agra – home to the Taj Mahal – to avoid an assault by a staff member, and a Swiss woman who was cycling with her husband in central India was gang-raped. In June, an American woman was gang-raped by three men while hitch-hiking back to her hotel in the Himalayan valley of Kullu.
The tourism ministry has launched a publicity campaign – I Respect Women – after industry surveys showed a steep drop in the number of tourists coming to India.
A study by India's Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry said that foreign tourist visits to India had dropped 25% in the three months after the rape and murder of the Delhi woman. Tourist visits by women fell by 35%.
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