The accused men in police custody

One of the 12 men arrested for allegedly raping a 21-year-old woman tourist in Puducherry had been booked for a similar offence earlier.One of the men, Nasser, was convicted of rape in 1999 and sentenced to three years in jail. His sentence was later reduced to 18 months. He is reportedly close to a local legislator from the DMK.The DMK legislator, Nazeem, had made a controversial comment about the woman yesterday, but today clarified to NDTV that he never tried to malign her.The woman, who is from Tiruvarur in Tamil Nadu, was raped by least six men in two separate groups on Christmas Eve. She is recovering in a local hospital.Of 15 suspects who either raped her or enabled the attack, 12 are in police custody.The woman was first abducted by three men while sightseeing with friends in Karaikal, a port city in Puducherry. After raping her, they released her.She called for help but then another group of seven men abducted her and sexually assaulted her. They allegedly raped her six times.

The two gangs assaulted her separately for over three hours.Her friends finally found her lying outdoors near the lodge where they had rented a room.