2 Arrested in Rape of Israeli Tourist in India

NEW DELHI — The police in India arrested two men on Monday and accused them of raping an Israeli woman in the tourist town of Manali the day before.

The district police chief, Padam Chand, said the authorities were seeking four more people in the case.

A series of brutal sexual assaults in India have attracted widespread attention, especially after a young woman was gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi in 2012 and later died of her injuries. India responded by imposing stricter penalties for sexual assault.

Some of the reported assaults have been against foreign tourists, leading many female visitors to fear for their safety, particularly when traveling alone. Mr. Chand said that Manali, in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, was the scene of at least one previous rape of a tourist, an American who was assaulted in 2013.

The Israeli woman who was attacked on Sunday came to Manali from Dharamshala, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile, on her way to meet friends in the remote, mountainous Spiti Valley, the police chief said. The valley is a favorite spot for foreign tourists, especially backpackers.

The woman, 25, was looking for a taxi to take her to the town’s bus station early on Sunday morning when six men in a small Maruti hatchback abducted her, Mr. Chand said. They took her two or three miles away, he said, and two of them raped her there.

The woman reported the assault to the police at around 10 a.m. on Sunday. The police chief said the woman had bruises on her body.

“The preliminary medical examination suggests rape, and the victim is being further examined by forensic experts,” he said.

Mr. Chand described the six who were accused in the attack as young men in their early 20s who have worked as drivers and mechanics and had no prior criminal records. He said they did not rob the victim but that her passport was missing.

An official at the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi said the embassy was in touch with the victim and with the Indian authorities and added that the victim did not want the case to be publicized.