Indian woman attacked with metal bar in rape bid

Indian police have arrested a man for allegedly shoving a metal rod down the throat of a 22-year-old woman during an attempted rape at her home in New Delhi, detectives said on Wednesday.

The attack, which happened on Monday night, comes only weeks after a fatal attack on a 23-year-old student who was gang-raped and violated with a rusty iron bar on a bus in Delhi on December 16.

"The accused tried to rape the girl and when she resisted his move, he shoved a rod inside her mouth," Ajay Chaudhry, a senior police officer investigating the case, told AFP.

"We have arrested the accused. A case of assault and attempt to murder has been registered."

The victim underwent surgery but is stable now, the officer added.

Police say the suspect had called round at the house on the pretext of collecting the monthly electricity charge and then tried to rape the woman on finding her alone.

She sustained severe injuries in her mouth and was left with bruises all around her neck, Chaudhry said.

In another incident of sexual assault which was reported in the local media on Wednesday, a 22-year-old woman was left with a damaged uterus after an alleged gang-rape in northern Uttarakhand state.

The Hindustan Times said three men gang-raped the woman after spiking her drink at a birthday party in the industrial town of Kashipur.

"We are conducting the necessary forensic tests and DNA samples are also being collected so that the guilty are not spared," the newspaper quoted senior police officer Sanjay Gunjyal as saying.

The December 16 gang-rape triggered mass protests across India and shone a spotlight on the frightening incidence of violence against women in the country.

A total of 24,206 rape cases were registered in 2011 although activists say those statistics represent only a fraction of the overall total due to the social stigma attached to reporting such crimes to the police.