MEXICO CITY (AP):

The Defence Department said yesterday its investigators have found no evidence that four Mexican soldiers raped and murdereda 73-year-old woman in a case that has outraged Indian groups in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz.

The department said in a news release that its officials have questioned and physically examined the four soldiers and have found no evidence that the men were involved, despite charges of rape and homicide brought against them by civilian prosecutors. The military said it has not fully completed its investigation.

The soldiers remain jailed and the department said it was cooperating with state prosecutors in the investigation.

Bound, beaten

Prosecutors say the victim was bound, beaten and sodomised in late February and died at a hospital from injuries sustained in the attack in the mountain town of Soledad Atzompa, about 200 kilometres (120 miles) east of Mexico City.

The town's mayor, Javier Perez, has demanded that soldiers be withdrawn from the predominantly Indian region. The army has since dismantled three nearby military encampments.

Mexico's Governmental National Human Rights Commission has announced it will conduct its own investigation into the case.