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NEW DELHI, Friday (AFP) The alleged gangrape of a student by four presidential guards in the heart of New Delhi has shocked India, with experts saying it points to a decay in the state of the military.

The elite Presidential Body Guard (PBG) soldiers have been charged with the gangrape of a 17-year-old girl in a popular joggers' park less than two kilometres (a mile) from the official residence of President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Immediately after the news broke, Defence Minister George Fernandes ordered army chief General N.C. Vij to take the sternest of measures against the suspects if they were found guilty. Vij on Thursday called the alleged assault a "blot" on the nation's defenders and pledged exemplary punishment if the accused were convicted, while the military ordered massive scrutiny of the horse-mounted PBG.

New Delhi military garrison commander Major General Thomas Mathew visited the girl's home after the police arrested the soldiers Wednesday, and Kalam spoke roughly with his staff, ordering them "not to stray into any kind of offence," officials said. The alleged assault coincided with Fernandes demanding a report on the suicide of a 15-year-old girl in northeastern Manipur state last month after she too was allegedly gangraped by soldiers.

The Indian army does not publish figures of sexual offences by the military but human rights groups point to Kashmir, alleging the army uses rape as an instrument to put down Islamic insurgency.

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