India: Influencer falls victim to gang rape while traveling around the world

In front of her husband
Influencer on a world tour raped by seven men in India

It was to be one of countless experiences on her trip around the world. But for a Spanish influencer couple, their stay in India turned into a nightmare. Seven men attacked them, beat the man and raped the woman in front of him.

Fernanda and Vicente from Spain have been traveling the world on their motorcycles for more than five years. The two have so far traveled to 66 countries and covered more than 170,000 kilometers. The video bloggers and share on Instagram Influencers share their adventures with their more than 200,000 followers. But two days ago they shocked their fans in an Instagram story. The couple is visibly scarred by the incident, both have abrasions on their faces, their eyes are teary and puffy. In a voice choked with tears, they explain: “We are in the hospital. Something terrible has happened to us that we would not wish on anyone.”

The couple was on their way to Nepal via Bhagalpur. It set up camp for the night in the Dumka district of Jharkand state in northeast India on Friday evening. “We were attacked in our tent, beaten and threatened with a knife,” says Vicente. “I was threatened that they would kill me and Fernanda was raped by seven men.”

Influencer reports rape in India

The influencer told the Spanish TV station Antena 3 that they had not found a suitable place to stay overnight and therefore decided to camp. At first there were only three men who wanted to take her with them. When her husband tried to stop her, four other men came. “They threw a stone at my head, threw me to the ground and gagged me,” he says. They then abused his wife for around two and a half hours. “They sat on me and rubbed my face on the floor. They hit me on the head and just said ‘sex’. Then they took off all my clothes, raped me and took turns while some watched,” said Fernanda.

According to the Reuters news agency, a police patrol became aware of the couple standing distraught on the side of the road around 11 p.m. They were then taken to a hospital. As a police spokesman told the Times of India, three suspects were caught a day later.

As Vicente says on Instagram, the other suspects are also known to the police and should therefore be caught soon.

There are always gang rapes in India

Violence against women is widespread in India. Two years ago, 28 men were arrested in the city of Thane near Mumbai for repeatedly abusing a 15-year-old girl.

In mid-September 2020, a 20-year-old fell victim to gang rape in Hathras. She died two weeks later. Four men from her village were subsequently arrested.

An incident in 2012 in which a 23-year-old medical student was raped by six men on a bus attracted particular attention. The young woman was on the way home with her boyfriend after an evening at the cinema. The drunks beat up the friend and raped the woman. They also used metal rods for their crime. They then threw the two of them off the bus. The woman died from her injuries two weeks later. Four of the men were executed in March 2020. Another perpetrator was a minor at the time and was sentenced to a three-year youth prison sentence; the sixth was found dead in his prison cell.

According to official figures, almost 90 rapes per day were reported in India in 2022. Because of the stigmatization of victims and a lack of trust in the police and justice system, many cases are not reported at all. Convictions for rape remain rare and court cases often drag on for years.

Watch the video above: Student Michelle Winchester was raped by a strange man. In the #VOXSTIMME format she talks about the perpetrator, the criminal process and her feelings.

Sources: Instagram, Times of India, Reuters, El PaisAFP, Antenna 3