India nabs third suspect in Mumbai gang rape

Members of the All Assam Photojournalist Association wear black sashes around their mouths during a protest against the rape of a photo journalist by five men inside an abandoned textile mill in Mumbai, in the northeastern Indian city of Guwahati August 24, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Indian police Saturday arrested the third suspect in the gang rape of a 23-year-old photojournalist, as calls remained unabated across the country for tougher measures against rapists.

Police said the third suspect, identified as Siraj Rehman and aged 25, was nabbed from a place he was hiding in Mumbra area. Police also arrested the second suspect Vijay Jadhav at wee hours Saturday from a video parlor in Mumbai.

The photojournalist was gang raped while shooting pictures of the ruin of a textile mill in central Mumbai. She was hospitalized for injuries and her condition was said to be stable.

"The probe is heading in the right direction and we hope to arrest all other absconding accused soon," city police commissioner Satyapal Singh told the media.

He said police had gathered "all the evidence against the accused and we will file a comprehensive chargesheet soon."

Another suspect, Chand Babu Sattar Shaikh alias Mohammed Abdul, was arrested on Friday.

Some protests were held in several Indian cities Saturday against the rape, which was reminiscent of a horrific gang rape last December in Delhi, in which a 23-year-old medical student was raped and killed by six men on a moving bus in South Delhi.

In both cases, the assaulters tied the male companion of the victim while assaulting the women.