A NINTEEN-YEAR-OLD woman has been gang-raped by six men in Kapiri Mposhi District who left her unconscious before she was taken to the hospital.

The six men took turns in raping the woman leaving her for dead around 20:00 hours on Sunday within the town centre as she was on her way home.

Central Province police chief Standwell Lungu said passersby picked the woman and took her to Kapiri Mposhi District Hospital.

She only gained consciousness yesterday in the morning.

Police are now pursuing the assailants whom the woman said she could identify if she saw them.

"This is a sad occurrence and we will hunt down the suspects. We won't rest until we get them. The victim has told us that she will be able to identify them if she saw them," he said.

The women organisations and other interest groups have recently been speaking strongly against gender-based violence (GBV) as police continue to release startling statistics on the vice.

The Kapiri Mposhi incident passes as the most atrocious GBV case to be recorded this year, while last year in Emmasdale 19-year-old Ruth Mbandu's case sparked ire across the country.

Meanwhile, police in Mkushi have arrested an 18-year-old boy who defiled a 13-year-old girl.

The girl was sent to a nearby shop when the boy attacked her on her way back.

She was dragged to the nearby bush where the boy had carnal knowledge of the girl, but was apprehended and handed over to the police.