Police: Swiss tourist gang-raped in central India

[cali]

A Swiss woman who was touring by bicycle with her husband through the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh was gang-raped by a group of eight men, police said Saturday.

Thirteen men were detained and questioned in connection with the attack, which occurred Friday night as the couple camped out in a forest after bicycling from the temple town of Orchha, local police officer R.K. Gurjar said.

The men beat the couple and gang-raped the woman, he said. They also stole the couple's mobile phone, a laptop computer and 10,000 rupees ($185), Gurjar said.

The woman was in a hospital Saturday in the nearby city of Gwalior. She and her husband were fine physically, Gurjar said.

<snip>

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/03/16/swiss-tourist-gang-raped/1992345/

She was beaten and raped by 8 men, she's in the hospital and she's "fine physically"? that's some bullshit spin.

[Xipe Totec]

1. Horrible nt

[Art_from_Ark]

2. I think "fine physically" means their injuries aren't life-threatening

[cali]

4. huh? In what universe?

[NutmegYankee]

12. Mentally she's likely very traumatized, but she may not have major physical injuries.

It's like how we describe conditions here as minor, serious, or critical. Mental condition is not usually covered by hospitals when they do press briefings.

[Honeycombe8]

16. Yes. As opposed to the last woman gang raped, who died. She's not fine. nt

[Art_from_Ark]

42. You have to bear in mind this is not American English

English as it is spoken in India has its own little idiosyncrasies that can confuse a speaker of a different version of English, just as there are sometimes confusing differences between American and British English.

You also have to bear in mind that both of the victims were beaten, and that sometimes does result in death.

[CosmicDustBunny]

3. Physically perhaps, but definitely not mentally. That's horrific.

[Matariki]

37. Her and her husband both

I can't even imagine the grief of seeing a loved one hurt like that and not being able to do anything about it. I'd rather it were me than someone I loved.

[COLGATE4]

5. As the risk of belaboring the obvious

doesn't it occur to people that bicycling through underdeveloped countries may present a security risk to person and/or property? Kind of like American kids who decide to go backpacking through guerrilla controlled rural regions in Colombia.

[Posteritatis]

6. Beam in thine own eye notwithstanding, India is hardly a monolith. (nt)

[COLGATE4]

8. Interesting reponse. What's your point?

[Whisp]

9. you mean it was her fault, not the rapists fault.

okay, seen this movie here a few times.

[COLGATE4]

14. You can't ignore the fault of the individual who

puts him/herself in harms' way, either through indifference or naivete. Does not excuse the crime, but the lack of any intelligent forethought on this couple's part exposed them unnecessarily to real danger.

[Honeycombe8]

19. As a woman, I agree. That was my first thought...what the hell were they doing....

primitive camping in a forest in a foreign country, out in nowhere? That doesn't excuse the brutal crime, but it makes me wonder...what were they thinking? As a woman, I have to give such things some thought. I'd like to go primitive camping. I don't know anyone who would want to do that. Would I go alone? Not on your boopie. That would be extremely dangerous for a woman alone to go out into a wilderness area alone. At the least, I'd have to go fully armed and be on guard at all times, because common sense tells me that that would be putting myself in a dangerous situation. Even if I were to get injured, there would be no one around to help. But if a group of men (the gender most likely to be encountered in wilderness areas) were to come across me, that'd be all she wrote.

This is as opposed to the young couple that was beaten, and the woman gang raped and sodomized on a bus in India recently. Then they ran over her with the bus. She died. The young man was injured. The suspects have been caught and trial is set. That young couple was just on a bus. Not placing themselves in harm's way, no particularly dangerous situation. Your normal daily activity.

[COLGATE4]

22. That was exactly the point I was attempting

to make.

[Lurker Deluxe]

30. Hold up there

Back up just a bit here.

"But if a group of men" ... what if a group of women were to come across you?

"that'd be all she wrote" ... huh? Any group of men encountering a lone female will instantly gang rape her?

Thems some pretty serious accusations.

[oldhippie]

11. Blaming the victim?

OTOH, sometimes the victims ain't too bright.

[COLGATE4]

13. No, not blaming the victim but I

agree with your point about not being too bright about the choice/place of the activity which lead to this crime.

[oldhippie]

17. I'm with you .....

... but there are many on this forum who believe that people living in a world of blissful ignorance and naivety about the ways of the real world somehow will/should face no consequences.

[COLGATE4]

23. Would that it were so - but the world

doesn't work that way...

[bettyellen]

28. Wow- this gang rape was "consequences" shes should face"

Perhaps her husband convinced her it was safe because he was with her. In that case do you feel like he should have been raped? Or murdered maybe?

[oldhippie]

31. No, she should absolutely NOT face such consequences ....

How can you so misunderstand my point? There shouldn't be such "consequences." There shouldn't be rape. There shouldn't be murder. Do you get it now? How can I say it much clearer? NO!

But evil does exist in this world. It's a good idea to recognize such and take precautions appropriately. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Wow is right. I swear, there are some here that will go out of their way try to misconstrue any point to try to make it part of the "rape culture."

[bettyellen]

36. I QUOTED you.... People ... Will/ should face "consequences"

Maybe you should choose your words more carefully?
Nothing to do with "rape culture" everything to do with being a callous and self righteous jerk. Sheesh.

[oldhippie]

38. Reading comprehension ....

I did NOT say that. I said there are many on this board that think that way. That somehow, in their perfect world, there SHOULD BE NO consequences. That it's not fair. It's not the victim's fault.

THE VICTIM DID NOT DO ANYTHING EVIL. SHE SHOULD NOT FACE ANY "CONSEQUENCES." I AGREE. She shouldn't. She did nothing wrong.

But there is evil in the world. And despite the wishes of many, there were/are consequences.

How can you be so dense as to think I said she SHOULD suffer consequences? Really? It's like you are just looking for it and doing everything you can to find it. You are a perfect example of what I call the "outrage brigade."

I'm done.

[bettyellen]

39. comprehension? you distinguished yourself from those who thought there should be no consequences....

ergo....

I'm willing to believe you posted thoughtlessly, but it was pretty clear. you could have said might, or possibly, but you chose SHOULD be consequences. Think on that. Because you don't seem to even realize it.

Outrage brigade my ass.

[oldhippie]

40. I rest my case .....

Goodnight.

[Mojorabbit]

29. When I was young in the late 60s and early 70s

It was a common thing for friends to go backpacking through India. I never heard any stories like this. I wonder if this is something relatively new or if it was a problem back in the day.

[oldhippie]

32. It was a different time .....

I also came of age in the late 60's. I traveled in Europe in '71. I also spent several years in Asia. It was a different vibe.

But also, we didn't hear many stories like this because we didn't have 24 hour news cycles and the internet. Unless we personally knew someone, or we saw it on the local news or the 1/2 hour of world news each night, we wouldn't hear about it.

Sometimes I think I miss those days.

[COLGATE4]

34. I worked training some of the first

Peace Corps volunteers for India in 1965-66. We had problems with rape with a couple of the volunteers who got put in remote villages. I suspect it's always been a problem but just didn't get reported as much. The internet has made worldwide information much more readily available.

[JI7]

43. many people including women by themselves have done it in India, this is just blaming the victim

[COLGATE4]

46. What's your point? To the contrary,

any reasonably intelligent person would know that this type of thing is quite prevalent in rural India and not decide that backing through that area with a sole male companion was a great idea.

[JI7]

44. more women have probably gotten raped by the person they went on a date with

maybe women shouldn't date ?

[COLGATE4]

45. Read my answers to the other posts on

the topic. There's a whole lot of difference between being surprised by a person you have some social contact with and exposing yourself to a whole lot of danger (rape being only one possibility) because you chose not to find out anything about the region you naively decided to go backpacking in.

[kattycat]

47. Bicycling through undeveloped countries like the United States?

The affidavit includes claims made by a witness that Eric Dimick had admitted to kidnapping the girl with Musich and Visor on December 27th. The same witness claims that Dimick said the three accused "were discussing doing a kidnapping and they just happened to come upon" the victim. The witness further claims "Dimick told them that they discussed 'raping' the victim."

The 11-year-old girl was taken after dark while riding her bike in the 7000 block of Braesvalley. According to the affidavit, she was walking with her 13-year-old brother at the time. Right after she was taken the boy ran home to tell his parents what happened.

http://www.kristv.com/news/affidavit-kidnapping-victim-describes-alleged-rape-295224/#_

[COLGATE4]

49. What's your point? Of course bad things happen

in the U.S. as well. But there is not the widespread possibility of those things happening in most areas of the U.S. while that is not the case in many parts of the underdeveloped world. Or are we to assume that the risk is the same here as in rural India?

[siligut]

7. Where is this gang-rape attitude coming from?

Is it new? Is it the emerging middle-class effect? I tend to believe that men who travel in packs are part of a larger group; what group is that?

[RobertEarl]

18. Can't imagine. Never experienced it.

None of the men I know would ever even express a desire to do such a thing to another human. But then I stay clear of criminals.

These rapists were criminal. That may be the answer to where this attitude comes from. Other than that it just seems to be un-evolved animalistic activity.

[Honeycombe8]

20. Ted Bundy's friends were convinced he wasn't capable of murder.

I'm convinced that men are the least likely people to be aware of the true character of other men, when it comes to women. Too often I hear of male friends being surprised to find out their friends were domestic abusers. Men relate to women in a totally different way they relate to other men.

[RobertEarl]

21. Well, men do imagine making War

And I'm with you. Men have made so many mistakes it's a wonder we aren't already dead.

Been saying that for years. No more War. But here we are. Wars and rumors of wars up the ying-yo. All over the headlines. Drones. Iran. N Korea.

Men can be the biggest fucking assholes.

You women need to learn how to control your men. You have failed at stopping wars and all that. Get to work!!

[siligut]

24. War makes money for your group if you win

War makes money for manufacturers no matter who wins. If they haven't been educated in a better way, and our culture does work to prevent that from happening, practical, greedy people agree with war.

[RobertEarl]

25. I disagree

You say: "... our culture does work to prevent that..." >> WAR

Our culture does support war. Not totally, but more than enough.

It is a man's culture - not totally - but we men do run things and most men do support war. Rape support I don't see. Just war.

[siligut]

26. Actually we do agree

"If they haven't been educated in a better way, and our culture does work to prevent that from happening, practical, greedy people agree with war."

Maybe I could have said that our culture doesn't teach better ways, but that would have been too simplistic. Literature, history texts and film tend to glorify war and heroes. Makes me think that it is all we know.

[RobertEarl]

27. You got it

Our culture doesn't teach better ways.

Some of us try but we are drowned out, and maybe one day droned on.

[oldhippie]

33. Holy crap!

I agree with something RobertEarl said.

I think I'll go lie down.

[LittleBlue]

10. I was thinking at one point of going to India

They have such a remarkable history.

Not any more. I wouldn't take my girlfriend to a place where gang rapes are common. Hope they lose all their tourism over this monstrous gang rape culture they love so much. What kind of sick people would ever tolerate this?

[COLGATE4]

15. You shouldn't discard your idea about going

to India - it's a fascinating country. It's quite safe for tourists, particularly if you stick to the major cities. Travelling without a group in the urban countryside is another matter.

[Glimmer of Hope]

48. I agree. I went on a small group tour and never felt unsafe.

The majority of Indian people are friendly and engaging. I can't wait to go back.

[Comrade Grumpy]

35. I was thinking at one point of going to Ohio...

and probably still would, because I don't think it's fair to slam an entire state or country for the actions of a few miscreants.

[flamingdem]

41. Unfortunately this kind of crime appears to be increasing

I follow the Caribbean and Latin America mostly but it might be a pattern. I-phones are often involved. It's just too easy for criminals to spot them and attack in a group. While what I've read about is more robbery than rape - that can happen as a crime of opportunity sometimes when the initial attack is for a cell phone.

My concept about this is that one is an obvious target when traveling in unfamiliar territory. It goes along with having to be highly aware and take many steps to protect oneself. In this case I'm guessing the couple did this trip with the idea that India is generally not violent in terms of travelers. So many people travel to that area without incident but things are changing.