Two men questioned over alleged gang rape

Police in India have questioned two men in the alleged gang rape of a 25-year-old Israeli tourist who accepted a car ride while travelling in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh. The woman, who had been looking for a taxi, got into the car in the hill resort of Manali before dawn on Sunday to travel to a nearby town, said Padam Chand, a police superintendent in Manali.

There were six men in the car and two of them raped the tourist after stopping at a desolate spot, he said.

Two of the men were in police custody yesterday and a search was on for the other four.

The picturesque hill resorts of Himachal Pradesh are very popular with young Israelis who travel in India after their military service, despite safety concerns.

Reports of rapes of women highlight the persistence of such violence in India despite a public outcry following the fatal gang rape of a young woman in moving bus in New Delhi in 2012.