Four men charged over Mumbai gang-rape of photographer

FOUR men have been formally charged in a Mumbai court over the gang-rape of a young photographer in the city last month, a case that reignited anger about women's safety across India.

The four suspects, arrested within days of the attack, appeared at the Esplanade Court on Thursday barefooted and looking dishevelled. One wore a T-shirt and jeans while the rest were in shirts and trousers.

They were charged with at least five offences including gang-rape, unnatural sex, illegal confinement, destruction of evidence, and conspiracy over the attack on August 22.

Charges were also filed in a juvenile court against a fifth suspect, who was under 18 at the time of the offence, Mumbai police spokesman Satyanarayan Choudhary told AFP.
 

The 22-year-old photographer was repeatedly raped while she was on assignment taking photos in an abandoned mill compound in central Mumbai.

A male colleague accompanying her was also beaten and tied up with a belt while she was assaulted and threatened with a broken beer bottle, police say.

The next hearing in the case was announced for Monday.

The attack sparked outrage in the financial hub Mumbai, which has long been thought of as safer for women than the capital New Delhi, where the fatal gang-rape of a young woman in December shook the nation.

Last week, a court convicted four adult suspects in the Delhi case and sentenced them to death, which the judge said was justified to deter other would-be rapists from attacking women.

Though the Delhi and Mumbai cases have gaered widespread media attention, gang-rapes and brutal sexual assaults are reported daily in Indian newspapers.