Kolkata, India: A 20-year-old woman in eastern India has been gang-raped by 13 men on the orders of a village tribunal as punishment for having a relationship with a man from a different community.

The woman, who is now recovering in hospital, told police she was assaulted by the men on January 20 in Birbhum district in West Bengal.

Police said that her male companion was tied up in the village square, while the assault on the woman happened in a mud house nearby.

"We arrested all the 13 men, including the village chief who ordered the gang rape. The accused have been produced in court, which remanded them to jail custody," Birbhum's police chief, SuperintendentSudhakar, said.