New Delhi -
Indian police on Thursday made the first arrest in the rape case of an elderly nun that sparked outrage in India and abroad, media reports said.
The nun in her seventies was attacked at the Jesus and Mary convent school in the Ranaghat town of the eastern state of West Bengal nearly two weeks ago.
Police arrested a suspect in the western metropolis of Mumbai, broadcaster NDTV reported citing police sources.
A gang of six robbers attacked the convent school and a church at a Ranaghat around 100 kilometres from state capital Kolkata. One of the men assaulted the nun before the gang fled with cash and valuables.
The detained suspect resembled a man caught on CCTV footage of the attack, the report said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who belongs to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, has been criticised for being slow to respond to a series of attacks on Christian institutions in recent months.
The country is about 80 percent Hindu, while Muslims comprise about 13 per cent and Christians 2.3 per cent, according to 2001 census figures.
Sapa-dpa