Indian police arrest 4 in rape of mother, teenage daughter

PATNA, India — Police arrested four people for allegedly gang-raping a woman and her 14-year-old daughter after tying the woman’s husband to a tree at gunpoint in eastern India, a police officer said Friday.

Crimes against women have been rising in India despite toughening of laws. India has been shaken by a series of sexual assaults since 2012, when a student was gang-raped and murdered on a moving New Delhi bus.

The family was riding a motorbike to their village on Wednesday night when armed suspects stopped them on a deserted stretch near Gaya, a town in Bihar state, said the officer who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

The four were arrested on Thursday and Friday, he said. Police were still looking for two suspects who fled after the crime.