“I thought we were going to die”

The gang rape of a Spanish tourist in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand has sparked anger and a debate about security in a country with rising crime against women.

A 28-year-old woman and her husband were attacked in Jharkhand’s Dumka district where they had pitched their tent for the evening on Friday night, tourists and police said. The couple, who run an Instagram page documenting their motorcycle travels across South Asia, posted a video recounting their horrific ordeal.

Police said they had arrested three men and were searching for four more in connection with the gang rape of the Spanish-Brazilian woman and the attack on her 64-year-old husband.

According to police, the Spanish citizens were found on the side of the road at around 11 p.m. on March 1.

The incident came to light after the couple shared a video describing the attack, which has since been removed. They later thanked their followers for their support in a new video. In the video, she was seen with bruises on her face.

“The police told me to take down the post so as not to disrupt the investigation. I will post it later,” the woman said in an Instagram story.

“My face looks like this, but that’s not what hurts me the most. I thought we were going to die. Thank God we’re still alive,” she wrote.

The survivor previously announced in an interview with the Spanish television station Antenna 3 that she was raped by the men in turn for about two hours while some watched.

Dumka police commissioner Pitamber Singh Kherwar told reporters that the couple flagged down a patrol car, which then took them to a nearby health centre for medical treatment.

“The couple spoke a mixture of English and Spanish, so patrol officers couldn’t understand them at first. But they seemed visibly injured, so they were taken for treatment,” he said, adding that they then told doctors about the rape. He said medical tests also confirmed rape.

“The other four accused have been identified and the manhunt is on. They will be nabbed soon,” he added.

The couple had arrived in Dumka on two motorcycles from Bangladesh and were on their way to Nepal via Bihar.

The Spanish embassy said it was in contact with the couple and offering support.

“Please note that the data protection law in Spain does not allow the disclosure of details of consular matters. The Spanish Embassy remains in constant contact with Spanish citizens in need and continues to actively cooperate with the Indian authorities. The Embassy is very grateful for their cooperation,” the statement said. The Independent.

The incident has sparked a debate about women’s safety in the country, with several people expressing their support for the couple in Instagram and YouTube videos.

Many female travel influencers also voiced their concerns on social media. A hashtag demanding justice for the victim was also widely shared in the biker community.

Travel influencer Ankita Kumar, known by the username @monkey.inc, wrote: “We have failed them as a country and we must ensure justice is done.”

Another user wrote: “I am so ashamed and so disappointed.”

Rekha Sharma, the head of India’s premier women’s rights organisation – the National Commission for Women (NCW) – faced a fierce backlash after her comments on a journalist’s post went viral. Journalist David Josef Volodzko wrote that while India was one of his favourite places, the “level of sexual aggression” he had experienced during his stay in the country was not as high anywhere else. He also recounted cases where he had witnessed such aggression, adding: “I have never met a traveller who was not groped or assaulted or worse, even if she had only been in the country for a few days.”

Ms Sharma responded: “Did you ever report the incident to the police? If not, then you are a completely irresponsible person. Just writing on social media and defaming the entire country is not a good choice.” Several people on X, formerly Twitter, accused Ms Sharma of victim blaming and focusing more on the perception of India than on the current crisis.

She later clarified in a post that an NCW member “met the survivor within hours and was present to ensure the arrest of all seven accused.”

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry has also contacted the victim.

In 2022, an average of nearly 90 rapes were reported daily in India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau—that is, a woman was raped every 18 minutes. The bureau documented 31,516 rape cases that year. The states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh reported the most cases.

The Jharkhand Assembly was in chaos over the incident, leading to two adjournments. The Jharkhand government has formed a special inquiry committee to look into the allegations, NDTV reported.