INDIA – Police has nabbed 13 men connection with a gang rape of a woman, allegedly on orders of village elders who objected to her relationship with a man in an Indian State of West Bendal.

The 20-year-old woman, who is now in critical condition, has been admitted to a hospital.

Police said the latest incident on Monday night was prompted by the relationship between a tribal woman and a non-tribal man belonging to a nearby village in Birbhum district.

Tribal or caste-based village councils made up of local elders wield great influence over life in large swathes of rural India and often mete out punishments for offences deemed to contravene local traditions and mores.

The government tightened laws on sexual violence last year after widespread protests following the 2012 gang rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus.