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ID parade in India jail over Japanese tourist gang rape

Kolkata (AFP) - Six men arrested over the gang rape of a Japanese tourist held captive in India for nearly a month took part in an identification parade Friday attended by their alleged victim, a prosecutor said.

"She was brought to jail to identify the accused," prosecutor Dipnarayan Pakrasi told AFP after the police line-up was held in the main eastern city of Kolkata's Presidency Jail amid tight security.

Although there was no immediate word on the outcome of the parade, all six were later remanded in custody until January 16 by a magistrate in the city.

Police had previously said that the 22-year-old victim would fly back home to Japan after taking part in the identification parade.

The victim's ordeal began in Kolkata shortly after she arrived in the city on November 20.

Police say a group of men, one of whom spoke Japanese, persuaded her to withdraw around $1,200 in cash before travelling with her to the Buddhist shrine of Bodh Gaya in neighbouring Bihar state.

There she was handed over to two brothers who allegedly locked her in a secluded basement and repeatedly raped her before she finally managed to escape towards the end of December.

The case is the latest in a string of high-profile sex attacks that have highlighted the frightening levels of violence against women in the world's second most populous country.