Woman Collapses During Fitness Test, Gang-Raped in Ambulance... India in Uproar

Driver and Two Mechanics Immediately Arrested
"Up to Four Suspects May Be Involved, Investigation Underway"

It has been revealed that a woman in her twenties was gang-raped inside an ambulance while being transported to a hospital in India, shocking and enraging local society.

According to local media including the Times of India on the 27th (local time), the victim collapsed from heatstroke symptoms while undergoing a physical fitness test for National Defense Force recruitment in the Gaya area of Bihar on the 24th. She was loaded into a waiting ambulance and transported to the hospital.

This is a reference photo to aid understanding of the article and is unrelated to the main text. Photo by AFP Yonhap News.

The distance to the hospital was only 3.5 kilometers, which normally would take about 10 minutes to reach, but it was found that the ambulance took an abnormally long time to arrive. CCTV analysis revealed that the vehicle traveled along a route unrelated to the shortest path, and it was confirmed that the sexual assault occurred during this detour.

After regaining consciousness at the hospital, the woman told medical staff, "I was sexually assaulted by three or four men inside the ambulance during the transfer." As a result, police formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and launched an investigation, immediately arresting the ambulance driver and two vehicle mechanics. Investigative authorities believe that up to four people may have been involved in the crime and are currently tracking the remaining suspects.

It was also confirmed that there was no female staff member present in the ambulance at the time of the incident, leading to criticism of a "serious procedural violation." Experts stressed, "There was a complete failure to protect the victim in a closed space without a female staff member or third party," and emphasized the urgent need for institutional improvements such as real-time GPS route sharing and in-vehicle video recording.

The reality of sexual violence in India is already notorious in the international community. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the number of annual rape reports exceeded 30,000 in 2022, which averages to 86 cases per day. However, considering the low rate of reporting sexual violence, the actual number of incidents is estimated to be much higher.