Protests break out after a young woman is gang-raped by five men in Mumbai in an attack echoing the death of a student last year which sparked demonstrations across India.

The 22-year-old woman was taking pictures of an abandoned textile factory in the south of the city when she was confronted by the five men, police said.

The attack on Thursday night triggered protests and an outcry on social media, with many users shocked that it took place in Mumbai, widely considered to be India’s safest city for women.

One man was arrested and 20 police teams were pursuing four men who had been identified, said Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh.

“Mumbai police will do its best to collect all the evidence – clinching evidence, scientific evidence – so that a fool-proof case is made out in the court, and they get maximum punishment,” Singh said.

“We will also request the government that this case be conducted in a fast-track court.”

In rowdy scenes in the upper house of parliament, opposition politicians accused the government of not doing enough to protect women, despite tougher sex crime laws brought in this year.

Police Commissioner Singh told reporters that the men initially approached offering to help the woman get access to the building. While the men raped her, they tied the hands of her colleague with a belt, police said.

The woman has been taken to a hospital in Mumbai and is reported to be in a stable condition.

The Hindustan Times has reported that a senior police official had told it that the five men had been arrested.

“They all have criminal backgrounds,” the official is reported to have told the newspaper. He was also reported to have said the identification of the accused by the victim and her colleague was “not necessary at this stage since we have sufficient evidence against them.”

Sexual violence



The latest incident comes at a time of heightened tension over sexual violence, and how it is dealt with by the authorities, in India.

In December a student was gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi, and later died from her injuries. A month later there was a second gang rape on a bus in Delhi.

In February three young sisters were raped and murdered in India, and a month later a Swiss tourist was gang-raped in the rural centre of the country.

The attack sparked protests across the country, with people calling for tougher sentences for rapists and better protection for women.

In response, the government passed laws to increase prison terms for rape and make voyeurism, stalking, acid attacks and the trafficking of women punishable under criminal law.