Warning: Graphic descriptions of sexual violence.
A picturesque travel day in India turned into a nightmare for a touring influencer couple who was brutally attacked by a gang of assailants who allegedly took turns raping the woman, local police said Saturday.
Fernanda and Vicente, who document their world travels by motorcycle for an audience of more than 140,000 Instagram followers, were passing through the Dumka district in India on their way to Nepal when they were viciously attacked. They had stopped in Dumka to camp there in a tent overnight, multiple outlets reported.
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In videos posted to Instagram, the couple appeared with swollen, purple bruises on each of their faces and started to tear up as they recounted in Spanish what happened to them.
“Something has happened to us that we would not wish on anyone,” Fernanda said in the video, “seven men have raped me, they have beaten us and robbed us.” She added that the attackers didn’t steal many things, however, “because what they wanted was to rape me.”
Police said Fernanda reached a patrol van around 11 p.m. and was taken to the hospital for treatment, according to local reports. Pitamber Singh Kherwar, the police superintendent of the district, said they had arrested three people in connection with the attack and were actively searching for more.
In another post, Vicente showed viewers his busted lip and stitches all around his mouth. “My mouth is destroyed, but Fernanda is worse than me,” he said, adding that the attackers had repeatedly hit him with a helmet and a rock to the head.
The case thrust India’s frightening record of sexual violence into the spotlight. The country is considered one of the worst for sexual violence against women and had nearly 90 reported rapes per day in 2022, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. But rapes often go underreported because of victim-shaming and low faith in law enforcement outcomes.
In Fernanda and Vicente’s most recent posts as of Saturday, they said they remained in the hospital with police. The investigation is ongoing.
