An American tourist was allegedly gang-raped this week in northern India, sparking more questions about the safety of women in the country.
According to a Reuters report, the woman was visiting friends on Monday while staying in a guest house in Manali, a small town in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Failing to find a taxi back to the house, the woman was picked up by three men in a truck while hitchhiking. The men allegedly drove the woman to an isolated area and raped her.
The woman was taken to a hospital before being taken home. Hospital tests have reportedly confirmed the rape. The men were detained for questioning, but were later released without arrest.
Rape in India has come to light as a national human-rights problem in the last few decades. Among recent notable cases, five men were charged with rape and murder in January for their assault on a 23-year-old student in Delhi. They are accused of luring the woman onto a bus, then beating and raping her. She died from her injuries two weeks later. That incident sparked protests across India for better enforcement of sexual assault laws.