woman in shadow
A 25-year-old nurse was gang-raped by two men in India's National Capital Region while she was returning home from work - File photo iStock

Police in India's Ghaziabad city are searching for two men who allegedly gang-raped a 25-year-old nurse while she was returning home from work on Friday (22 September) night.

The incident took place just 200 metres away from the victim's house on an isolated stretch of a road where the two accused dragged her into the roadside bushes and assaulted her, police said.

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The woman, who is currently in a hospital, reportedly told police that the men also snatched her mobile phone and filmed the sexual assault. Police had arrested a man based on the information shared by the victim, but she could not identify him. The manhunt continues for the unidentified accused, police said.

The victim "told us that initially, she thought that the two men were robbers and were trying to snatch her mobile," an investigating officer told The Hindustan Times. "She handed over the mobile but one of them pulled her hair while the other slapped and punched her multiple times."

They then dragged her to the roadside and took turns in raping her. The woman also told police the men followed her for a while before attacking her. Feeling threatened, she tried calling home but the call did not go through.

The two men had stopped following after noticing the woman was on a call but returned once she hung up, police said.

"She said both were drunk and called each other with names while in a hurry to leave the scene of the crime," the officer said. He added that one person with a similar name who was previously accused in a rape case was arrested, "but the man was not identified by the victim".

Ghaziabad police said several teams from the crime branch and special operation group are carrying out the investigation and are on the lookout for the accused. They are reportedly seeking help from nearby CCTV cameras and talking to locals for more information.

"We are also scanning the nearby CCTVs and taking help from local informers. The guilty will be brought to book," HN singh, senior superintendent of police, Ghaziabad, said.