The Spanish-Brazilian woman who was allegedly gang-raped by several men during a motorbike tour of India remains “mentally strong” despite suffering lasting trauma, a social worker who spoke to the victim has said.
The 28-year-old tourist was on a motorbike tour with her 64-year-old husband when they were attacked by a group of men in Jharkhand’s Dumka district on March 1.
They had already travelled to Pakistan and Bangladesh as part of their tour of South Asia, and were heading north towards Nepal at the time.
Dumka police chief Pitamber Singh Kherwar said police have arrested three suspects, who were pictured blindfolded and bound with rope on Monday. Later, five more men were arrested.
Another police official said more suspects have been detained and are being interrogated.
The incident has triggered a major public reaction in India, with the attack condemned by leaders across the political spectrum.
Before they left the country, the couple were given Rs1 million ($16,150) in compensation, and police released an image of the husband posing for a photo while receiving the cheque. The photo itself has provoked more outrage online.
Speaking to The Independent, Ms Anjula Murmu, a social worker in Dumka who supported the victims, said: “The woman fought her perpetrators strongly, but she was overpowered by the men, who repeatedly raped her for close to three hours. She was emotionally shattered but not broken. To express her visible trauma is beyond words.”
The couple entered India at the Pakistan border in Amritsar in mid-July and had been travelling across the country for the past six months, Ms Murmu said.
They are travel bloggers with a following of more than 600,000 on Instagram, and had pitched a tent for the night on March 1 amid the scenic countryside, some 400km from Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi.
“Their tent began shaking and they heard voices at around 7.30pm when the victim’s male partner began recording a video out of caution,” she said.
“He said ‘hello’ and those outside responded with hello... they appeared to be visibly drunk,” said Ms Murmu, who said she had seen the video recording.
The group left but returned with more men and began attacking the tent.
“The moment (the couple) came out, they were attacked, with some of them restraining the man while the others went for the woman, who tried to get a knife out from her shoes and even hid in the dark to save herself,” Ms Murmu said.
Struggling to fight back tears with their faces covered with bruises, the couple released a video on their Instagram handle saying they were beaten up by seven men who held knives against their throats and raped the woman while restraining her male partner.
“Seven men raped me. They have beaten us and robbed us, although not many things (were taken) because what they wanted was to rape me,” she said in Spanish.
“My face looks like this, but it’s not what hurts me the most. I thought we were going to die. Thank God we are alive.”
The woman on Tuesday said that she has no complaints against the people of India as she has safely travelled around 20,000km across the country.
Speaking to reporters before leaving for Nepal via Bihar along with her husband on their motorcycles, she said she would continue her world tour.
“People of India are nice. I don’t blame the people, but I blame the criminals. People of India have treated me very well, and were very kind to me,” she said.
“We chose the place for the night stay because it was calm and beautiful. We thought it would be okay if we lived there alone.”
Singer Chinmayi Sripaada said that all Indians should be “ashamed” by the incident. “If all Indians can be proud when ‘few’ Indians win an Olympic medal, all Indians can also be ashamed when ‘few’ men rape,” she said on X.
