SIX men have been arrested over the gang-rape of a Swiss woman who was camping in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

It is the latest high-profile rape case to rock the country, coming only three months after a 23-year-old was brutally gang-raped by a group of men in Delhi.

The woman, said to be aged 39, was camping overnight with her husband at a village in the Datia district on Friday during a cycling trip when they were attacked by a group of men.

The assailants overpowered the husband before raping his wife, and robbing the couple of their valuables, which have now been recovered by police.

Deputy police inspector Dilip Arya initially said it was thought seven men attacked the couple in their tent and four of them raped the woman.

However, police investigations later found only six people were involved in the crime.

Those arrested have been identified as Baba, Bhuta, Rampro, Bishnu, Gaja and Nitin.

They are aged between 20 and 25 years and belong to a local tribe known as the Kanjar. They were also carrying a firearm.

No information was immediately available on the defendants' account of events.

The six will appear before a magistrate today.

The couple were said to be on their way to the tourist destination of Agra, home to the iconic Taj Mahal in northern India.

Police said that after the attack, the rape victim had a medical examination at a local hospital and is now at the Swiss embassy in New Delhi.

A spokesman for the Swiss Ministry for Foreign Affairs said in a statement: "A decision regarding the next steps to be made in the interest of the two concerned Swiss citizens will be made with them in due course."

The incident is the latest in a series of rape cases in India which have turned the spotlight on the role and security of women in the world's largest democracy. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, one woman is raped every 20 minutes in India.

But police estimate only four out of 10 rapes are reported, largely due to victims' fear of being shamed by their families and communities.

Ranjana Kumari, of the Centre for Social Research think-tank, said there had been 127 rape cases registered in Delhi alone since the brutal case in December.

The 23-year-old medical student was gang-raped and beaten in a moving bus in Delhi and thrown bleeding on to the street in a case that sparked outrage across the country and internationally.

She died two weeks later after being transferred to a hospital in Singapore.

After the incident, millions of Indians took to the streets demanding the death penalty for her attackers and official action from the government to reduce the number of rapes and sexual assaults on women.

Four men and a teenage boy are on trial for the Delhi attack. A sixth defendant, who police say was the ringleader, was found dead in his cell on Monday.

Ms Kumari said: "It is absolutely shocking and speaks volumes on how Indian society is treating women.

"The men have gone totally berserk. We're feeling frustrated and in despair.

"What must we do to change their mentality? Women are becoming more vulnerable."

Last week a 38-year-old woman was gang-raped by three men on a bus near the central city of Indore.

In 2003, a 36-year-old female Swiss diplomat was abducted by two men from a car park and raped.

She was later freed but nobody has been convicted for the assault.