Durgapur medical student rape: Chargesheet hints at classmate's suspicious role

The chargesheet filed in connection with the alleged rape of the medical student at West Bengal’s Durgapur has detailed  the events of the day, and cast a shadow over the “classmate” of the girl who accompanied her at the time of the incident.

The victim, who is undergoing treatment, has claimed that the incident happened between 8 pm and 8:45 pm on Friday, according to Bengali newspaper Anandbazaar Patrika.

She added that she was surrounded by three people first. Seeing them, she tried to call her friends, but they snatched her phone away. Two more people came later. All five raped her and then asked for 5,000 taka (Bangladeshi currency) before returning the phone, the report added.

The victim added that the girl’s classmate fled after being surrounded by the five men. This has triggered suspicion. The father of the victim filed a complaint against the classmate, in which he alleged the person’s involvement in the case.

The probe team is also investigating why the classmate fled, leaving the girl in danger, and why he didn’t alert his friends or the police when the men dragged the girl away.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested one more person in this connection, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to four. The search is underway for one more person. The police said a total of six people, including the classmate, are currently under police radar.

The victim’s family has also demanded that the girl be shifted from West Bengal to Odisha, her home state. “My daughter is suffering from pain. Now she cannot even walk; she is bedridden. There is no safety for her in this state. We want to take her back to Odisha. Trust has been lost. We don't want to keep her in Bengal anymore. She will continue her studies in Odisha. Her life is in danger here," he told ANI. 

India