Three weeks after a medical student of a private college in Paschim Bardhaman district of West Bengal was allegedly gangraped outside the campus, the Asansol police on Thursday submitted the chargesheet, naming all the six arrested in the case, including the woman’s friend and fellow college mate.
In its 861-page chargesheet submitted to the Durgapur sub-district court, the police have charged the woman’s friend with rape, and three local residents with gangrape, dacoity and extortion, sources said. Two other locals have been charged with molestation and extortion, they added.
“Three of the accused, identified as Nasiruddin Sheikh (23), Firdaus Sheikh (23) and Apu Bauri (21), have been charged with gangrape, dacoity and extortion. Two others, Riazuddin Sheikh (32) and Safiq Sheikh (27), have been charged with molestation, dacoity and extortion,” a senior police officer, involved in the probe, told The Indian Express.
Riazuddin Sheikh and Shafiq Sheikh, who were the first to be arrested, had confessed to the crime in front of the magistrate, the police officer added.
The woman student, who hails from Odisha, was allegedly gangraped in a forested area outside the campus on the night of October 10 when she and her friend had gone out.
Speaking to mediapersons after the chargesheet was submitted in the court, Special Public Prosecutor Bivas Chatterjee said, “The investigation was conducted promptly and the chargesheet submitted. The court has ordered a speedy trial.”
“This is a success of the Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate. We are hopeful that the trial will be over within two months and the judicial process will begin,” added Chatterjee.
The gangrape incident had created a huge public outrage in the state as well as the country with the Opposition BJP accusing the TMC government of failing to provide security to women.
The FIR was registered on October 11, after the woman student’s father reached West Bengal from Odisha.
The police made the first arrests within 48 hours of the incident. Police first arrested five local villagers. The woman’s friend was arrested nearly a week later after police found inconsistencies in his statement and reconstructed the crime scene with him and one of the accused.
According to the police, as well as the medical college, the woman student and her male friend had left the campus at 7.58 pm on October 10. Nearly half an hour later, by 8.42 pm, the male friend returned alone and left the campus again at about 8.48 pm. The two returned together at 9.29 pm, after which the institution and her family came to know about the incident.
The woman, who was hospitalised, in a statement before the magistrate, had said that her male friend “molested” her and fled during the alleged assault by the villagers. According to the male friend, the villagers had demanded money from him.