The couple, Vincente and Fernanda, known by their online audience as ‘Vuelta Al Mundo En Moto’ (Around The World By Motorbike), have travelled to more than 66 countries worldwide, frequently taking to social media to share their journey with their 200, 000+ followers.
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Over the weekend, the couple’s travel-oriented feed took a turn for the worse, when the pair took to Instagram after experiencing a harrowing incident where Vincente was brutally assaulted and Fernanda was gang-raped by a group of seven men who attacked the couple.
The incident occurred while the Spanish–Brazilian couple were spending the night camping in India’s eastern state of Jharkhand, in the Dumka district. They planned to stay the night there and resume their journey towards Nepal in the morning.
However, in a viral video posted to their social media accounts – which has since been removed – Fernanda and Vincente can be seen waiting at the hospital in India as they share news of their recent experience with followers. The post was captioned:
“Something has happened to us that we would not wish on anyone, seven men have raped me, they have beaten us and robbed us, although not of many things [have been taken], because what they wanted was to rape me. We are in hospital with the police, it happened tonight here in India,”
Very difficult video to watch.
Spanish biking travel-voggler Fernanda, with her husband Vincente known to their audience as Vuelta Al Mundo En Moto, was gang raped by 7 men while in India.
Only 4 of the 7 men have been arrested so far. pic.twitter.com/0FkcaWSAMX
— AskAubry 🦝 (@ask_aubry) March 4, 2024
As quoted by The Gulf, Fernanda details the incident:
“They raped me, they took turns while some watched and they stayed like that for about two hours,”
Following the traumatic incident, a patrol car rescued the duo late on Friday night after the assault, and escorted them to a local hospital.
Since the incident occurred, Indian authorities have arrested four suspects who may have been involved with the group that attacked the couple, as per reports by Al Jazeera.
IOL stated that the couple have since taken to their Instagram stories cautioning travellers not to make extreme generalisations about travelling to India, quoting:
“We have read many absurd comments, saying that we brought it on ourselves by coming to India, or by camping, that nothing has happened to us, etc. We mean that this can happen to anyone, to your daughter, to your sister, your mother and in any country in the world.”
The couple ends by stating that unfortunately, safety is not just an issue in India. It’s a global concern, and unfortunately, this could have happened to anyone.
“Nobody is free, this has already happened many times in Spain, Brazil and America. So don’t talk nonsense that it’s because we are in India,”
Travelling isn’t always safe, and the incident that Fernanda and Vincente survived should serve as an unfortunate reminder to never assume your safety when travelling.
