Jaipur, Aug 13 (IANS): Five people have been arrested and sent to judicial custody for gang-raping a pregnant woman in Rajasthan's Banswara district due to which the victim suffered a miscarriage, police said on Tuesday.

According to police official Babulal Morariya of Sadar Thana, Banswara, "The woman was gang-raped by three friends initially after they forced her onto their bike when she was going out with her partner. They also attacked her partner with a sword and he fainted.

"Later, she was taken to a deserted area where the accused took turns to rape her. They were drunk and were armed," said the police official.

The woman was taken to five different locations and raped several times by the three accused. She was then shifted to another place where more people joined in to rape her.

Meanwhile, her partner returned to his village and committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree within a few hours of the incident as he could not save her from the attack.

Police then started investigations and from his call details, they reached the victim and came to know how the girl was gang-raped so many times, said Morariya.

The incident happened on July 13-14 but came to light only when the accused were arrested.