India businessman accused of raping Irish woman
KOLKATA, India Police said Wednesday they have arrested a man accused of raping an Irish woman who volunteered at a children's charity in the Indian city of Kolkata.
The local businessman who was arrested will be produced in court later Wednesday, according to a police official, who said he could not be named because he wasn't authorized to speak to reporters.
The man attended a party the woman hosted to celebrate her 21st birthday late Friday, the official said. She later went to the man's house where she drank a cup of tea and passed out, then she was raped, the official said.
Few other details were immediately available.
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The reported assault comes as other attacks against women have heightened concerns about sexual violence in India.
On Tuesday, police reported that an American tourist was gang-raped in the northern Indian resort town of Manali. Three men picked her up in a truck while she was hitchhiking, then drove to a secluded spot and raped her, police officer Sher Singh said.
No arrests had been made as of Tuesday afternoon, Singh said.
In March, six men were arrested in the gang-rape of a Swiss cyclist, and a British hotel guest jumped from a third-floor window fearing a sexual attack when the hotel owner tried to force his way into her room.
The fatal gang-rape of an Indian student in New Delhi in December sparked protests demanding better protection for women. The government in response passed a law increasing prison terms for rape and making voyeurism, stalking, acid attacks and the trafficking of women punishable under criminal law.