The second attack comes after the December rape prompted protests in India (Picture: Getty)

Police have arrested six men in another gang rape of a bus passenger in India – four weeks after a brutal attack on a student on a moving bus in Delhi outraged the nation.

It comes as the mother of the 23-year-old student who died after being gang-raped in December said all six suspects in that case, including one believed to be a juvenile, deserve the death penalty.

Police say a 29-year-old woman travelling alone on a bus to her village in northern Punjab state on Friday was attacked by a gang of men.

The driver and conductor allegedly drove her to a desolate location and took her to a nearby building where they were joined by five friends. They are then said to have raped her repeatedly.




Police say they arrested six suspects on Saturday and are searching for another.

It is the second gang rape after a brutal attack on a student on a New Delhi bus in December. The woman was raped and assaulted with a metal bar on December 16 and eventually died of her injuries.

That case set off an impassioned debate about what India needs to do to prevent such tragedies.



Five men have been charged with the student’s rape and murder and face a possible death penalty if convicted. The sixth suspect says he is 17 years old. If that is confirmed, he is likely to be tried in a juvenile court where the maximum sentence is three years in a reform facility.

The mother of the December rape victim told The Times of India newspaper that the youngest suspect participated in the most brutal aspects of the rape.

Rape victims are not identified in India, even if they die, and rape trials are closed to the media.