A trainee nun was kidnapped and gang raped for a week by three men in a suspected revenge attack, Indian media have reported.

The 22-year-old was allegedly lured to a train station by her cousins and then held captive and raped over days because they blame her family for their father’s murder.

It is the latest in a series of appalling rape cases in India this year since a student was gang raped and died from her horrific injuries on a Delhi bus in December.

The trainee nun was lured to meet her cousins and held captive and raped for a week (file picture)

 

The suspects dropped her at Brahampur station and warned her not to report the attack to anyone

The nun told police she was due to meet her cousins at a train station near Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, southern India, after they claimed their mother was ill.

However, she says she was then taken to a nearby village where she repeatedly attacked.

The suspects later dropped her back at the station and told her not to report the incident.

The woman’s cousins Jotindra Sobhasundar, 30, and Tukuna Sobhasundar, 28, were arrested on Sunday, according to The Times of India.

A third suspect was detained on Monday during a series of raids in Kandhamal district.

Local media said the nun’s brother was questioned in connection with the murder of one the suspects.

The attack allegedly happened between July 5 and 11 but has only been made public this week.

Sexual violence against women in India has triggered nationwide protests and law changes

It has been condemned by the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias, was quoted by Catholic Culture, as saying: ‘This gang rape is physical and emotional terrorism.

‘Rape is an abhorrent crime and an abominable transgression against the honour of women and reflects the abysmal state of woman in our society, community and nation.’

He also accused government agencies of ‘appalling apathy’.

The death of the Delhi student in December sparked mass protests against the government’s initial response to the attack and demonstrators called for better protection for women.

This week four Indian girls, aged 12 to 14, were abducted from a care home and gang raped by up to 20 armed men.

The children were kidnapped from a hostel at Lawada village in Pakur district.

Read more: Daily Mail