Ancient Indians migrated to Australia and mixed with Aborigines 4,000 years ago, bringing the dingo's ancestor with them, according to new research that re-evaluates the continent's long isolation before European settlement.

The vast southern continent was thought to have been cut off from other populations until Europeans landed at the end of the 1700s, but the latest genetic and archaeological evidence throws that theory out.

A seven-year-old girl has been raped in a school toilet in the Indian holiday state of Goa, sparking mass protests and the arrest of her headmistress, police said on Tuesday.

The incident was reported in the city of Vasco da Gama on Monday, sparking a massive manhunt to trace the accused, thought to be in his early 20s.

The Indian army's chief of staff on Monday ordered his commanders to give an "aggressive" response to any firing by Pakistani forces along the de facto border in disputed Kashmir.

"We expect our commanders to be aggressive," General Bikram Singh said ahead of a meeting between Indian and Pakistani commanders to discuss a recent deadly flare-up in the region.

Pakistani and Indian military officials are due to meet on Monday at the border of divided Kashmir after soldiers from both sides were killed in cross-border attacks, officials said Sunday.

Pakistan has said two of its soldiers were killed in cross-border firing, one last Sunday and one on Thursday.

Six men have been arrested over the rape of a passenger on a coach in India, police said Sunday, weeks after the gang-rape and murder of a student on a bus in New Delhi sparked nationwide protests.

The victim had boarded the service to her in-laws' home in the northern state of Punjab when she was abducted and driven to a house in a district bordering the city of Amritsar, local police officer Raj Jeet Singh said.

A procession of around 100 million devotees, from naked sprinting gurus to worshippers completing simple rituals, will stream into the river Ganges next week for the world's biggest festival.

The Kumbh Mela in northern India, starting Monday and stretching over 55 days, attracts ash-covered holy men who run into the frigid waters, a smattering of international celebrities, as well as millions upon millions of ordinary Indians.

U.N. Women head Michelle Bachelet on Friday urged punishment for those responsible for the brutal gang-rape and murder of a young woman in New Delhi, saying a strong message must be sent.

Bachelet, the former Chilean president, also told journalists during a visit to Nigeria that sufficient laws existed to prosecute rapists in many parts of the world, but more must be done to implement them.

Pakistan summoned the Indian ambassador to Islamabad on Friday to protest against the death of another Pakistani soldier in what it said was a second cross-border attack from Indian troops in Kashmir.

Pakistan said the soldier was killed on Thursday. It was the third deadly incident and fourth death reported in five days in the disputed Himalayan region, which is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but ruled in part by each.

Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said Thursday he was "perplexed" by the killing of two Indian soldiers on the Pakistan border but stressed that a fragile peace process should not be derailed.

His comments came after Pakistan said one of its troops was killed by unprovoked Indian firing in the Line of Control, separating the disputed northern Himalayan state of Kashmir.

A defense lawyer accused Indian police Thursday of beating confessions out of five men charged with murdering and gang-raping a student in New Delhi, as they were due to appear in court again.

Speaking before a hearing at which a magistrate is expected to transfer the case to a fast-track court, M.L. Sharma told Agence France Presse that his clients had been beaten while in custody and were innocent of the charges.