A 23-year-old classmate of the medical student who alleged gangrape in a forested area near her college campus in Durgapur, West Bengal, was arrested on Tuesday evening. The arrest came shortly after Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissioner Sunil Kumar Choudhary stated that gangrape had been ruled out and confirmed the classmate was not beyond suspicion.
The survivor’s classmate, a resident of Malda district in Bengal, had been detained on 11 October, as he had accompanied her for dinner on the evening the incident occurred. Earlier, five local villagers had been arrested in connection with the case. However, during his first press conference on the matter, held just an hour before the sixth arrest, Commissioner Choudhary clarified that the investigation indicated the involvement of only one individual.
The alleged gangrape of a 23-year-old medical student in Durgapur, West Bengal, has taken a significant turn as police on Tuesday highlighted several contradictions between the survivor’s statements, her friend’s account, medical reports, and the testimonies of the arrested suspects. Investigators also noted that CCTV footage appears to contradict the later version of events.
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On Monday, police arrested a fifth suspect, Sheikh Safiqul, in connection with the alleged assault that occurred near the student’s college campus on the evening of 10 October.
Officers from the Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate stated that the survivor, originally from Jaleswar in Odisha, initially told medical personnel that three men were involved and only one committed the assault. However, in a subsequent police statement, she alleged that five individuals dragged her into a forested area and gangraped her.
“In her initial statement to the doctor, the student said there were three persons and only one of them committed the crime. We have that record as well as the medical reports. However, she later told the police that five persons dragged her to the forest and gangraped her,” a senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Hindustan Times.
Footage from the college’s surveillance cameras further complicates the case. A second officer stated that the video shows the student returning to campus with her friend, walking calmly, with her clothing intact, and without seeking help from security personnel stationed at the gate.
“When a woman is dragged through a jungle by five men and gangraped, there is always evidence. The college authorities gave us the security camera footage showing her returning to the campus with her friend. We studied it. Her clothes appeared intact, and she walked calmly. The college’s security personnel were on duty at the gates. She did not seek their assistance,” the officer added.
The survivor also claimed that the accused used her phone to call her friend following the alleged assault and later kept the device, demanding ₹3,000 for its return. She also alleged that the ₹200 she had in her possession was taken. Police recovered the phone from one of the suspects arrested earlier.
All five suspects, Sheikh Safiqul, Sheikh Nasiruddin, Apu Bauri (21), Firdous Sheikh (23), and Sheikh Riazuddin (32), have been remanded in police custody. They are residents of nearby villages and have been booked under Sections 70(1) (gang rape) and 3(5) (criminal act with common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, according to the remand petition.
Police confirmed that the arrests were based on mobile call data and circumstantial evidence, as the survivor did not name any of the accused in her initial complaint.
The police are also questioning the survivor’s male classmate, who accompanied her off-campus to dine at a roadside dhaba on the evening of the incident. The formal complaint was lodged by the survivor’s father, who named this classmate as a suspect, in addition to five unidentified individuals.
The alleged crime reportedly occurred after 8 p.m., and the father claimed that his daughter’s classmates called him around 9:30 p.m. Police stated that, thus far, none of the five suspects has a criminal record.
