Story highlights
- The bus speeds past the woman's stop
- Police: The bus driver and his helper take the woman somewhere
- Five other men allegedly join in to assault the woman through the night
In an incident eerily similar to a sexual assault that sent shock waves worldwide, Indian police say a woman was gang-raped over the weekend by seven men after she boarded a bus at night.
Police have arrested all seven suspects, including the bus driver, after the alleged Friday night attack in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab state.
Just like a gang rape in New Delhi that sparked international outrage last month, the new attack occurred after the woman got on a bus.
The bus sped past her stop, police said. By that time, the woman was the only passenger.
The bus driver and his helper then took the married 29-year-old woman to an undisclosed address where five others joined the two men and raped her throughout the night, police said.
Will New Delhi rape change India? 04:02
Father of India rape victim speaks out 01:15
'I was like a bird without wings' 01:38
Photos: Photos: India rape protest
Photos: Photos: India rape protest
India rape protests – An Indian activist gets his head shaven in protest against the Dehli gang-rape in New Delhi on Friday, January 4. A gang of men is accused of repeatedly raping a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi. Police formally charged the five suspects with rape, kidnapping and murder after the woman died.
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India rape protests – Indian lawyers shout during a protest at the entrance to Saket District Court in New Delhi on Thursday, January 3.
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India rape protests – About 600 guitarists play John Lennon's "Imagine" in a tribute to the rape victim in Darjeeling on January 3.
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India rape protests – Indian women take part in the Women's Dignity March in New Delhi on Wednesday, January 2. Several hundred people participated in the solidarity march organized by the government, which ended at Rajghat, the memorial for Mohandas Gandhi.
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India rape protests – Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, center, participates in a group prayer during the Women's Dignity March on January 2.
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India rape protests – Indian demonstrators perform a prayer ritual in memory of a gang-rape victim in New Delhi on Monday, December 31. The family of the victim said they would not rest until her killers are hanged as they spoke of their own pain and trauma over a crime that has united the country in grief.
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India rape protests – A Sri Lankan opposition United National Party activist places her signature on a banner in memory of the Indian gang-rape victim in Colombo on December 31.
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India rape protests – Indian protesters hold candles during a rally in New Delhi on Sunday, December 30, following the cremation of the gang-rape victim.
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India rape protests – Indian protesters walk with police officials during a rally in New Delhi on Sunday, December 30, following the cremation of a gang-rape victim in the Indian capital. The 23-year-old student died Saturday and was cremated at a private ceremony, hours after her body was flown home from Singapore. She had been gang-raped and severely beaten on December 16, triggering an outpouring of grief and anger across India.
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India rape protests – Indian protesters sit by lit candles and hold placards in New Delhi on December 30 during a protest against the gang rape.
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India rape protests – Indian residents pray during a gathering in New Delhi on December 30.
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India rape protests – Protesters hold candles during a vigil in New Delhi on Saturday, December 29, after the death of a gang-rape victim. Authorities erected security barriers throughout New Delhi's key government district after two days of street battles following a woman's gang rape on a bus on December 16. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appealed for calm and pledged safety for women and children.
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India rape protests – Indian residents hold lighted candles during a rally in Amritsar on December 29.
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India rape protests – Students in New Delhi on Thursday, December 27, protest a recent brutal gang rape in the city.
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India rape protests – Demonstrators shout slogans and wave placards as they move toward India Gate in New Delhi on December 27.
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India rape protests – Riot police keep watch along a sealed-off road near the India Gate monument on Monday, December 24, in New Delhi after weekend clashes between protesters and police.
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India rape protests – Police fire tear gas on Sunday, December 23, during a protest calling for better safety for women following last week's rape. Thousands of protesters defied a ban on demonstrations in New Delhi on Sunday, venting their anger about the incident.
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India rape protests – Police attempt to disperse protesters on December 23. For a second day, demonstrators were blasted with water cannons in the Indian capital. While some dispersed, others huddled tightly in a circle to brave high-pressure streams in the cold weather.
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India rape protests – Demonstrators turn a car over on December 23.
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India rape protests – Students chant anti-police slogans during a protest against the Indian government's reaction to recent rape incidents in India, on Saturday, December 22, in New Delhi, India. The demonstration was prompted by wide public outrage over what police said was the gang-rape and beating of a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in the capital last Sunday.
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India rape protests – Demonstrators react from tear gas fired by police on December 22. New Delhi alone reported 572 rapes last year and more than 600 in 2012.
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India rape protests – Police arrest a demonstrator during a protest on December 22. Sunday's attack sparked furious protests across India, where official data show that rape cases have jumped almost 875% over the past 40 years -- from 2,487 in 1971 to 24,206 in 2011.
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India rape protests – Police unleash water cannon and fire tear gas towards demonstrators on December 22.
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India rape protests – Demonstrators react as police fire tear gas on December 22.
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India rape protests – Indian demonstrators march towards India Gate during the protest on December 22.
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India rape protests – Indian demonstrators carry an injured man from the scene on December 22.
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India rape protests – Police spray water and fire tear gas towards demonstrators on December 22.
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India rape protests – Demonstrators push against a police barricade on December 22.
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India rape protests – Students chant anti-police slogans on December 22.
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"They threatened me with a sharp edged weapon and did wrong things with me," the victim told CNN's sister station, CNN-IBN. "They kept me confined all through the night and forced me to do what they want."
The next day, the suspects dropped her off at her village, where she informed her family and alerted police, according to authorities.
The alleged attack bears a similarity to a December 16 gang rape where attackers assaulted a woman after she boarded a bus. The men also brutally beat her and her male companion, robbed them of their belongings and later dumped them by the side of a road.
Both New Delhi and Gurdaspur are in northern India.
The latest incident in Gurdaspur has not spurred an outbreak of protests in the country and there was no immediate evidence of visible injuries to the woman, contrasting with the violent manner in which last month's New Delhi victim was attacked.
The Delhi incident triggered rallies nationwide and an uproar over the treatment of women.
The badly beaten 23-year-old woman was flown to Singapore for treatment after the attack.
She died about two weeks later while undergoing treatment.
Five men were charged with murder, rape and kidnapping, and face the death penalty if convicted. A juvenile court is determining the age of a sixth suspect, who claims to be 17 and not old enough to be tried as an adult.
At the time, the government pledged stronger laws against sexual assaults.
The number of reported rapes in India -- a country where a cultural stigma keeps many victims from reporting the crime -- has increased drastically, from 2,487 in 1971 to 24,206 in 2011, according to official figures.
Most women in India have stories of sexual harassment and abuse on public transportation or on the streets, said Seema Sirohi, of the Indian Council on Global Relations.
