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KOLKATA: The West Bengal police on Thursday filed its charge sheet against six men in connection with the gang rape of a 23-year-old medical student in a forested area near her college campus in West Burdwan district’s Durgapur town on October 10.
The incident took place when the rape survivor stepped out of the campus for dinner with a classmate. Security camera footage collected by police from the private medical college and hospital showed the victim and her friend leaving the campus at 7.54 pm on October 10. The male student returned around 8.42 pm and was seen loitering around. He did not report the incident to anyone. He left again at 8.48 pm and returned with the victim at 9.29 pm.
The classmate, a resident of Bengal’s Malda district, was arrested on October 14, hours after a magistrate recorded the survivor’s confidential statement. “The victim’s friend has been charged with rape, molestation and destruction of evidence,” special public prosecutor Bibhas Chatterjee said after the chargesheet was filed at the Durgapur court.
The other five accused are local villagers, and were the first to be arrested.
“Three of the five villagers have been charged with gang rape, stalking, snatching, extortion, dacoity and intimidation. The other two face charges of dacoity, snatching, intimidation, molestation and extortion,” Chatterjee added.
“According to our law, a crime is considered a gang rape when one or multiple persons are present when one person commits a rape. Hence, three villagers have been accused of gang rape. Charges of extortion, dacoity and intimidation have been filed against the villagers because they took away ₹200 that the victim was carrying. They also took her phone and demanded ₹3000 for returning it,” Chatterjee said.
“This is a very delicate case,” he said.
Police first arrested three villagers, Apu Bauri,21, Firdous Sheikh, 23, and Sheikh Riazuddin, 31. Two more villagers, Sheikh Safiqul, 30, and Sheikh Nasiruddin, 23, were arrested on October 13. All five work as wage labourers.
