Last March, the news of the brutal gang rape of a Spanish tourist in India hit the media. Seven men sexually assaulted Fernanda, a 28-year-old woman of Brazilian origin and Spanish nationality; and her partner, Vicente, who also suffered blows during the attack.
The couple has been traveling the world for five years, an adventure they document on their Instagram profile, Around the World by Motorcycle; But they never expected that their arrival in India would be a nightmare. On March 1, Fernanda was a victim of brutal sexual assault at the hands of those seven men.
"We are in the hospital. Something has happened to us that we would not wish on anyone. They have attacked the store, they have beaten us, they have put a knife to our neck, they were going to kill us. Seven guys, sons of bitches, have raped Fernanda" .
The couple had been traveling through Asia by motorcycle for five years, until that fateful March 1, while camping in the Dumka desert, in the state of Jharkhand, a group attacked them by surprise. Fernanda was the victim of rape and Vicente was beaten and threatened.
That same Saturday, in another video broadcast on his social media channels, Vicente explained that he thought they were going to die. Luckily, all seven were arrested.
The couple is now in Granada, a province where they have lived for years, taking a break to try to forget the horrible experience they had to live through. "What we experienced was very strong," says Vicente, in statements to IDEAL.
Fernanda, for her part, doesn't even want to remember it. Vicente had nightmares until recently, but they prefer to try to take advantage of this new opportunity that life is giving them. Furthermore, they do not plan to stop traveling. "We are in good spirits, we are very strong."
Both are grateful for the media coverage of their case, as they are convinced that if they did not report it publicly "they would have sent us home directly." Even so, there were those who accused Fernanda of having invented the dramatic event.
"It is said that women have to be empowered, but if you face something like this with strength, you don't like it as much. For it to be true, it seems that you have to try to commit suicide three times, if not, you have invented it," she laments. "The worst thing is when the women themselves are the ones who tell you that they see you as too whole to have suffered that."
It is not the first time that the couple has faced this type of situation, although none has left them as shocked as this one. On their social media accounts you can see multiple videos where they share experiences of all kinds, each one more dangerous. They have experienced everything from missile launches to violent robbery attempts, to sleeping near the border with Syria in the middle of the war.
