NEW DELHI ?-- A Swiss woman was gang-raped by eight men in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh Friday night, a police official said Saturday.

"The woman and her husband were touring by bicycle in the state 's Datia district when the incident took place. The accused also looted their belongings before escaping in the forest. The victim was taken to a hospital and medical tests have confirmed rape," he said on condition of anonymity.

The police detained eight people, the official said, adding that her husband tried but could not save her from getting raped. "We have launched a major manhunt in the area," he said.

The gangrape of the Swiss woman came just three months after a 23-year-old medical student was gang-raped by six men on a moving bus in the Indian capital.

The case in December last year sparked massive public outcry in this country over the rising sexual assaults on women, forcing the government to introduce stringent law to deter such heinous crime.

The Delhi University student, who was gangraped in front of her boyfriend, died of serious injuries at a Singapore hospital later.

Four of the six accused are on trial facing rape and murder charges which carry a maximum of death penalty. The fifth and the main accused recently committed suicide inside Tihar jail in the Indian capital while the sixth accused, a minor, will be tried at juvenile court.