Six men to appear in Indian court over gang-rape of Swiss woman

DATIA, India (AFP) ― Six men accused over the gang-rape and robbery of a Swiss cyclist holidaying in India will appear in court in a central Indian state on Monday, police said.

“We have detained all the six persons and they will be produced before the magistrate after lunch today. We will ask for a police remand for five days for all of them,” local police official M.L. Dhody said.

Out of the six arrested men, four will be charged with gang-rape, Dhody said, since the other two were “only present at the crime scene.”

All the men face robbery charges as police say they stole a laptop, a mobile phone and $185 from the couple as they pitched their tent in a remote forested area of Madhya Pradesh state late Friday.

Late Sunday, police paraded the men at a police station in Datia district.

The men, believed to be farmers aged between 20 and 25, were wearing jeans and shirts and had their faces covered with black cloth.

They hail from a village near the scene of the assault, which took place about 70 kilometers from the nearest town of Gwalior.