The couple will fly to Nepal tomorrow and then fly back to Spain

camping in Dumka It wasn’t in the plans Fernanda and Vicente. They were traveling on a motorcycle through northeast India towards the border with Nepal, but on Friday, March 1, it was nightfall on the road. Valencian Vicente (63) explains, “India is not the safest country in the world to drive at night, especially on those rural roads. There are hardly any lights and animals come in front of you, which you Didn’t see that coming.” This newspaper…

The terrible incident that happened after the camping spread around the world: seven men took turns beating and gang-raping Fernanda (28 years old), an impressionable woman of Brazilian origin with Spanish nationality. They tied up Vicente and also beat him.

couple, who rest on safe floor Provided by local authorities, EL Mundo answers the phone again this Monday. They are overwhelmed with the attention they are receiving from the international media. “Even the newspapers in Iraq have called us,” says Vicente. Now, he says, the only thing he wants is to return to Spain.

“Fernanda is still in pain, but she looks quite strong Take a motorcycle and get out of here.

There is a plan to go to Nepal and Kathmandu on Tuesday. It is a two day journey. There we are going to take a plane to Spain,” says Vicente. “We will leave the motorcycles in Nepal. We want to relax and be with family. Then, when Fernanda has fully recovered, we will continue our tour of Asia. “We want to finish in New Zealand.”

Indian police have arrested four attackers and the other three have also been identified. On Sunday, the couple spent most of the day testifying before local authorities and the forensic team Samples were collected in Dumka area400 meters down the road from where Fernanda and Vicente were attacked.

123 rape cases per month

Dumka is one of the 24 districts of the state. Jharkhand, 1,300 kilometers away from the capital New Delhi. This mountainous region has a long history of armed ethnic conflicts and is very rich very poor neighborhood, with high rates of violence and frequent sexual attacks on women, especially those belonging to the lowest castes. Jharkhand has the highest rape rate in the country: 7.6 per 100,000 people.

Registered in Jharkhand, between September 2021 and February 2022, as per the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau of India (2022) 123 rape cases per month, Another report by Jharkhand Police has recorded 5,255 cases of rape across the state between January 2020 and February 2023.

Although the association always emphasizes that the majority of women They do not report due to the huge stigma prevalent Around the victims, there is a lack of support from the authorities, vague police investigations that often do not solve cases, and families that intimidate the victims themselves so that they do not press charges or marry their own rapists.

Last January, in Dumka (99 cases of rape were reported in 2022), the same place where Fernanda was sexually assaulted, 11 people were arrested Gang rape of 10 year old girl

, In April 2023, another 14-year-old girl from the same area was raped in a field in Dumka. The same month, in another nearby village, a 10-year-old girl was gang-raped and then murdered.

In July, two minor girl students were gang-raped in Ranchi city of Jharkhand. That month, in the same city, another girl was sexually assaulted by a group of men. In Dumka in August, the principal of a residential school and a security guard were arrested for harassing girl students.

Last year a film, To Kill a Tiger, was released, which tells the story of a 13-year-old girl from Jharkhand who is gang-raped and shamed by all her neighbours. His father, who was a very poor farmer, began a desperate fight for justice. The minor’s family faced intense social hostility after the father lodged a complaint against the attackers. The villagers hoped that Baby would marry one of her rapists, as happened on many occasions.

Just five days ago, in another district of Jharkhand, Another 13-year-old girl murdered for resisting rape attempt, Two 21 year old youth strangled her. Going back years, there are many news stories about sexual harassment cases in this state: a 55-year-old farmer was raped by two police officers, a 33-year-old teacher was raped by four students…

A rape every 18 minutes

According to official data, on an average around 90 rape incidents are reported every day in India. i.e, A rape occurs every 18 minutes., In 2012, the gang rape and murder of an Indian schoolgirl made headlines in international sections of newspapers around the world.

Jyoti Singh Pandey and his six rapists They put a metal rod in his stomach And they tore out a large part of his intestine. She was brutally tortured in the back of a bus in New Delhi. Apart from the beating, there were 13 bite marks all over his body. Thinking him dead, they threw his body on the roadside. But Singh was still alive. He survived long enough to identify his attackers. He died in hospital 13 days later. He was 23 years old.

caused the incident an unprecedented wave of protest This helped the government amend a series of laws across the country. A broader definition of violence against women was recognized; He opened centers to provide legal and medical aid to victims; They installed more closed circuit cameras on the streets of New Delhi; They deployed police officers on buses; He prescribed harsh punishments for rapists, including the death penalty.