Sharan Basavraj, 22, an electrical engineering student from Bangalore, India, has been arrested and charged with raping the 28-year old woman from Queensland.

Karnataka police sub-inspector Kiran Kumar said the woman was staying with her husband in Paradise Beach, a resort popular with Western tourists at Gokarna, on the Northern Coast of Karnataka.

Police said in the early hours of Saturday, the woman was sleeping inside the cottage with the doors open as it was hot, as her husband slept outside.

The woman claims that she opened the door to someone in her apartment, thinking it was her husband.

Then the accused forced himself on her and raped her.

Her husband woke up hearing the noise and saw his wife's attacker fleeing. He gathered other foreign nationals staying in nearby cottages, captured the alleged rapist and locked him up in his room until he was taken into custody by police.

The accused was holidaying with a group of boys and staying in a cottage at Gokarna town near the resort where the Australian woman was staying with her husband.

Her husband who woke up hearing the noise, saw him fleeing. He gathered other foreign nationals staying in nearby cottages, locked him up in his room till morning when he was taken into custody. By 10.30am on Saturday, the victim filed a complaint alleging rape and the police arrested Sharan

Western range DIG Gopal B Hosur said Sharan broke into the cottage where the woman was staying and raped her.

"The accused was touring the place along with six friends. We are ascertaining whether he was under the influence of alcohol when the incident took place,'' he said.

Srinagar, March 8: Raja Begum of Tumpora Handwara, is paying a heavy price for raising her voice against the SHO Handwara. Raja Begum has alleged that the SHO had detained her in Police Station Handwara in December 2004 and had molested her. However, she displayed exemplary courage and narrated her woeful tale in front of the media and had gone to the court for seeking justice. Raja Begum raising her voice has infuriated the concerned officer, who has threatened her of dire consequences. She and her family members are very scared to visit their home in Handawara. Raja begum said, " I and my family members are living under the constant fear and we don't know what future holds for us. I had thought that, if I raise my voice against the said officer and would make the people aware about what, I have under gone, it will shake the conscience of those people who are enjoying the echelons of power." She added, "however, I raising my voice has hardly made any difference as till today no enquiry has been initiated against the said officer. Instead we have become the scape goats and we are facing immense mental torture." It is in place to mention here that Handwara police had registered a case against her family members including her husband Ghulam Mohammad Bhat and her brother- in- law Farooq Ahmed Bhat on some dispute with their cousins, Abdul Ahad Khan and Bashir Khan. Later police had arrested her brother in law, who was released on bail later. Raja Begum had alleged that she was taken to the Police station Handwara from her house, where she was detained for one full day. She had alleged that the concerned SHO molested her and took Rs.700/ from her before releasing her. Her story appeared in many local dailies, however till date no action has been initiated against the said officer. Raja said, " on 3rd March a police constable Mohammad Yosuf came to our house and told me that, we should meet the SHO." She added, " he told us not to come to the police station, as 'Sahab' wants to meet us outside the police station. He assured us that if we grease their palms, we won't be troubled and our case will be challaned in court." He husband Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, who was accompanying he said, " we told the cop to present the chalan in the court and we will fight the case on our own. However, he refused saying that case won't be challaned until their palms are not greased." Bhat says that he wants to migrate from the said village along with his family members. "We have been undergoing severe mental torture and I don't want to stay there." Baramulla Raja Ajaz Ali Khan said, " I have told the concerned SHO to present the challan in the court." He added, " if the allegations leveled by the said lady prove to be true, I will make sure that action is initiated against the said officer."

New Delhi, Monday 1 December 2008: Every 60 minutes, two women are raped in this country.

What is more horrendous is that 133 elderly women were sexually assaulted last year, according to the latest report prepared by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

A total of 20,737 cases of rape were reported last year registering a 7.2% increase over the previous year, with Madhya Pradesh becoming the “rape capital” of the country by topping the list of such incidents.

Going by the NCRB statistics, two women are raped in the country every hour.

Madhya Pradesh (3,010) accounted for 14.5 per cent of the total cases, with West Bengal following with 2,106 such incidents. Records of high incidence in other states are Uttar Pradesh (1,648), Bihar (1,555) and Rajasthan (1,238).

The national capital had 598 cases in which 602 women were sexually assaulted.

In its report ‘Crime in India - 2007′, the NCRB noted that offenders were known to the victims in as many as 19,188 cases (92.5 per cent) that included 6,902 incidents in which neighbours were involved.

Parents or close family members were involved in 405 cases while in 1,448 cases relatives were involved. “Everywhere in this country, over 90 per cent of the victims are raped by person known to them,” a senior police official said.

Women in the age group of 18 to 30 years were the largest chunk among the victims (11,984) followed by 3,530 victims in the age group of 30-50 years.

While 617 victims were below the age of 10 years, 4,507 were between 10 and 18 years, the report said.