American Tourist  Gang-Raped In Northern India

An American tourist has been gang-raped by a group of men in a hill resort in northern India, the latest in a series of such attacks that have thrown the spotlight on women's safety in the country.

The woman was picked up by three men in a truck late on Monday while hitchhiking to her guesthouse in the town of Manali in Himachal Pradesh state, according to police.

The woman told officers her attackers took her to an isolated area and raped her. She was sent to a local hospital for preliminary tests, said a local police inspector, who declined to be identified.

Three men have been arrested in connection with the incident.

A spokesman for the US embassy in New Delhi, Peter Vrooman, said: "We are in contact with authorities but due to issues of privacy we have no further comment."

In March, a Swiss tourist was gang-raped while on a camping trip in a forest in the central state of Madhya Pradesh. In the same month, a British woman jumped off her hotel balcony in Uttar Pradesh state to escape a possible sexual assault.

The National Crime Records Bureau said more than 24,200 rapes were reported in India in 2011 – one every 20 minutes.

The capital, New Delhi, has the highest number of sex crimes among major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18 hours, according to police figures.

Police are investigating the alleged rape of a 21-year-old Irish woman last weekend. She was working as a volunteer with a non-governmental organisation in West Bengal.

"Women should observe stringent security precautions, including avoiding use of public transport after dark without the company of known and trustworthy companions," according to a US state department travel advisory for India.

The gang rape of a 23-year-old trainee physiotherapist on a bus in New Delhi on 16 December brought thousands of people on to the streets in protest.