Indians light candles as they mourn the death of a gang rape victim in New Delhi, India. The woman's death sparked a wave of protests like this one

AN Irish woman, who was allegedly raped by a businessman while working for an aid agency in India, has attempted to take her own life.

It is understood that the 21-year-old woman took a mixture of sleeping pills, painkillers and other drugs.

She was discovered unconscious in her hotel room yesterday by a fellow Irish national who was staying at the same complex.

Sudeshna Lahiri, deputy director of the Calcutta Medical Research Institute, told reporters that the medicines were pumped from the woman’s stomach.

She is expected to make a full recovery.

The woman has claimed she was sexually assaulted after accompanying a man to his home in the Kalighat area of Kolkata on June 1.

She had been celebrating her 21st birthday with friends earlier that night.

Last December, a 23-year-old Indian woman was gang-raped on a bus that was being driven through New Delhi. She died from her injuries two weeks later. The case sparked mass protests and calls for tougher action to combat sex crimes against women.

In March, a 39-year-old Swiss woman was gang-raped as she camped in a remote forest in central India with her boyfriend, while that same month, a 31-year-old British woman was forced to leap from a second-floor hotel balcony to escape an attacker in the city of Agra, home of the Taj Mahal.

The attacks have led to a sharp fall in tourist numbers to India, especially among women. The number of foreigners visiting India is reported to be down 25pc, with the number of women travellers down 35pc.

Online Editors