Several detained in India over elderly nun's rape
Indian police say several people have been detained in connection with an attack over the weekend on a convent near Kolkata that ended with the brutal rape of a nun in her 70s.
The nun, who has not been named, was left in serious condition and was hospitalized after the attack. Reuters quotes a police official as saying the nun has since been released from the hospital and has appealed for peace.
A mass rally is expected in Kolkata on Monday to protest for greater protection of women and religious minorities, Al Jazeera reports.
The incident at the Convent of Jesus and Mary School in Nadia district, 50 miles northeast of the West Bengal state capital of Kolkata, is the latest of many crimes to focus attention on the scourge of sexual violence in the country.
Early Saturday, a group of robbers broke into the missionary school's grounds and tied up the security guards before entering the nuns' room, where they were sleeping. Officials said the elderly nun was removed from the group and sexually assaulted when she tried to block their way.
The men escaped with some cash, a cellphone, a laptop computer and a camera, all belonging to the school, an official said. They also ransacked the school's chapel and holy items, the Press Trust of India news agency cited the archbishop of Kolkata, Thomas D'Souza, as saying.
Reuters reports police officials say five of the seven suspects in the case have been detained. The Wall Street Journal reports eight men have been detained for questioning. So far, there have been no reports of arrests.
India has a long history of tolerance for sexual violence, but the December 2012 fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman aboard a moving bus in New Delhi caused outrage across the nation.
The outcry led the federal government to rush legislation doubling prison terms for rapists to 20 years and criminalizing voyeurism, stalking and the trafficking of women. The law also makes it a crime for officers to refuse to open cases when complaints are made.