Nearly three weeks after the Durgapur gangrape case, the Asansol Police filed a chargesheet in the case on Thursday (30th October). The 861-page chargesheet submitted before the Durgapur sub-district court names six people, including the victim’s friend and a classmate, as accused. The chargesheet includes statements of 51 witnesses, reconstruction reports and medical findings.
As per reports, three accused, 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. Another accused, Ali, who initially posed as a friend of the victim, misled the police about her whereabouts and tampered with digital evidence, was found to be involved in the crime after forensic examination of his phone. The victim also testified before the magistrate about being raped by Ali. Firdous Sheikh, the victim’s classmate, was identified by police as the main perpetrator behind the brutal assault on a second-year medical student from Odisha. All six accused have been arrested by the police. On Friday (31st October), a sub-divisional court rejected the bail pleas of Sheikh Riazuddin and Sheikh Shafique.
Speaking to the media after the chargesheet was submitted, Special Public Prosecutor Bivas Chatterjee said the court has ordered a speedy trial in the case. “The investigation was conducted promptly, and the chargesheet was submitted. The court has ordered a speedy trial,” said Chatterjee. “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,” he added. The trial of the case, which was transferred to an additional district and sessions’ court, will commence on 8th November.
Whille the victim was being sexually assaulted her male friend fled the scene
A second-year MBBS student from Odisha was gang-raped by the accused in a jungle area near a private medical college and hospital in Durgapur in West Bengal’s Paschim Bardhaman district on the night of 10th October. The victim, from Jaleswar in Odisha, is a student of IQ City Medical College Hospital, a private medical college near Shobhapur. On the day of the incident, around 8:30 PM, she went outside the college campus with a male friend named Wasif Ali. The duo was walking along the isolated Mohanbaghan Avenue, adjacent to Durgapur Government College in the New Township police station area, when the assault occurred. The attackers abducted the student, dragged her into the jungle behind the college, and raped her one after another. Ali fled the scene when the victim was being sexually assaulted and returned later. An FIR was filed on 11th October after the victim’s father arrived in Durgapur.
The incident sparked a huge public outrage as people questioned the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government in the state regarding the safety of women. However, instead of addressing the deteriorating law and order in the state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee resorted to victim blaming. Speaking about the horrific incident, Banerjee said that girls should avoid stepping out of their college premises at night for their own safety.In the last couple of years, several incidents of sexual assault, particularly against young women, have come to light in the state.
