The Indian police have confirmed this Saturday the arrest of three of those involved in the brutal attack on a woman of Brazilian origin and Spanish nationality who was beaten and gang-raped by seven individuals in Dumka, a district in the northeast of India, where She was with her husband, also Spanish. Police inspector Pitamber Singh Kherwar confirmed to the media that the victim counted up to seven attackers and that they have already arrested three: “Based on the description given by the attacked couple, we have arrested some people and we will catch the rest of the attackers. accused too,” he explained.
Although the report was made on Friday night, immediately after the attack, because the agents could only communicate in Hindi, and the couple only speaks English and Spanish, the authorities only knew that it was a rape when they were taken to the hospital. “As the victims spoke only Spanish and English and we could not understand them, we took them to the hospital where we found out that it was a rape case,” Singh Kherwar said.
From that hospital, the two Spaniards recorded a video that they uploaded on Instagram around six in the morning, Spanish time — and later they removed it on the advice of the police so as not to hinder the investigation, as they have published in another story—, in which they recounted how they were attacked in the tent they had set up on Friday in the Dumka district, a remote area in the State of Jharkhand. These were his statements in the video:
“We’re at the hospital,” he says.
“Something has happened to us that we wouldn’t wish on anyone,” she points out.
“They attacked us in the store, they beat us, they put a knife to our necks, they were going to kill me, and Fernanda was raped by seven, seven guys, sons of bitches,” the husband explains.
—We’ll tell you more. “We are with the police,” she explains.
—We slept in the hospital there [en la zona donde se produjo la agresión]and now they have brought us about 60 or 70 kilometers to another hospital to do the DNA tests [en el distrito de Dumka].
Although their belongings were stolen, the woman believes that the reason for the attack was sexual assault, according to Efe. We had very little, his real motive was to rape me,” she says in the video.
The couple has been traveling the world by motorcycle for several years and in recent months they were doing a tour through several countries in South Asia—from Pakistan, then to India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh—; She is an ambassador for the Klim motorcycling brand.
A spokesperson for the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the event and explained that the Spanish Embassy in New Delhi is in contact with the two Spaniards, whose lives are not in danger, “to provide them with any consultative assistance they may require,” reports Miguel Gonzalez. This is made difficult in any case by the fact that the couple is in a remote region of the country, close to the border with Bangladesh, more than 1,300 kilometers from the Spanish consulate in the Indian capital.
India has been considered for years as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for women. According to a study published by the Thompson Reuters Foundation in 2018, the high risk of sexual violence and labor slavery made India the most dangerous at that time. The survey, based on the responses of 550 gender experts, placed the Asian country in first place in the global index; above nations at war such as Afghanistan or Syria, second and third respectively, followed by Somalia and Saudi Arabia. It is estimated, according to known data, that a rape occurs every 15 minutes in India.
In its travel recommendations, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises women to “take extreme caution” when traveling in the country. “Following the increase in sexual assaults on foreign women, it is recommended not to travel alone and avoid crowded places or situations that may lead to friction or physical contact with strangers,” she says. “It is advisable to avoid places with little traffic or traveling at night (avoiding using public transport alone, whether by taxi, metro or autorickshaw), even in the main tourist cities,” he adds. In case of danger, it is recommended to call the number 100 (Police) or 112 from your mobile phone and immediately inform the consular assistance service of the Spanish Embassy in Delhi (+91 98 10 17 41 60) “to be able to offer you support and guide you.” in the process”.
In Spain, the 016 telephone number serves victims of sexist violence – of all types of violence, from sexual to psychological, physical or economic -, their families and their environment 24 hours a day, every day of the year. year, in 53 different languages. The number is not registered on the telephone bill, but the call must be deleted from the device. You can also contact via email [email protected] and by WhatsApp at the number 600 000 016. Minors can contact the ANAR Foundation telephone number 900 20 20 10. If it is an emergency situation, you can call 112 or the National Police telephone numbers (091) and the Civil Guard (062). And if you cannot call, you can use the ALERTCOPS application, from which an alert signal is sent to the Police with geolocation.