An American tourist visiting India was gang-raped early on Tuesday morning after accepting a ride from three men in a truck while hitchhiking.
The United States Embassy in Delhi has told reporters that they are aware of the situation. "We are in contact with authorities, but due to issues of privacy we have no comment," a spokesperson said.
The woman has not been identified but is believed to be in her 30s. She arrived in the Indian resort town of Manali on Monday and had taken a day trip to nearby Vashisht, a popular tourist destination, according to Reuters.
The woman had been looking for a taxi back to Manali in the early hours of Tuesday morning but was unsuccessful so she decided to hitchhike.
The suspects reportedly drove by in a truck and offered the victim a ride, which she accepted. They then allegedly took her to a nearby secluded location and raped her. Following the ordeal, the woman went to a local hospital and filed a rape case after preliminary tests confirmed that she had in fact been raped.
After authorities were informed of the case, they issued an alert for the three men and set up roadblocks to check all trucks going out of town on Tuesday afternoon. Since that time, three persons of interest have been identified by Indian police, according to reports.
"The three suspects have not yet been formally arrested but the investigating team is hopeful there will be a breakthrough in the case very soon," said B. Kamal Kumar, director of police in the state of Kimachel Pradesh, where the crime took place.
This rape comes on the heels of another reported gang-rape of a Swiss tourist who was attacked while bike riding in a rural area of India in March. Six men were arrested in that case, ABC News reports.
According to Reuters, that same month, likely in response to public pressure, India passed a bill demanding harsher punishments of up to and including the death penalty for rapists in the country.