Latest India Gang-Rape Victim: 71-Year-Old Nun

The latest victim in India's seemingly unchecked epidemic of gang rape is a septuagenarian nun who was trying to thwart a group of men from robbing the missionary school where she worked. As NPR reports, six men stormed the Convent of Jesus and Mary school in West Bengal state early yesterday; they overcame guards there, and raped the nun when she tried to halt them. The woman required surgery, but is reported to be in stable condition. "Christians in Bengal are deeply anguished by the shameful act of violence on an elderly and ailing religious sister," said the local archbishop in a statement. "We would like to register our horror and shock at this barbaric act which has occurred in our tolerant and inclusive state of West Bengal."

The faces of four of the six attackers were captured on surveillance video, reports Sky News, and five people are reported to be in custody. "At least two of them were armed and the rest were carrying burglary tools," says a police official. "In the chapel, a holy scripture was found torn and... a bust of Jesus was broken." They made off with money, a cell phone, and a laptop, notes NPR. (More India stories.)