Odisha student gang-raped outside West Bengal medical college, accused at large
Kolkata: A second-year student from Odisha was allegedly gang-raped outside a private medical college in West Burdwan district’s Durgapur on Friday night, police confirmed on Saturday.
A case has been registered against several people in connection with the incident, though no arrests have been made so far.
The police reported that the student, a resident of Jaleswar in Odisha, had left the college premises with a classmate to eat outside.
“It is alleged that miscreants started harassing them at that time. They also chased their friend, who ran away in fear. Finding the girl alone, the miscreants dragged her to a nearby forest where the crime was committed,” a senior officer of the Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate stated.
The college authorities have already filed a complaint with the police.
According to family sources, the student had left the college premises at around 8.30 p.m. on Friday for dinner. At that time, several youths blocked the path of the student. After that, she was allegedly taken to a forest behind the private medical college campus and allegedly gang-raped.
After the gang rape, the student’s mobile phone was also allegedly taken away by the accused. The student is currently admitted to a hospital.
The family members said that they do not want to keep her in this state for education.
“My daughter is not safe here. I will not let her continue her education here anymore. I will take her home,” her parents told the media.
Although officers of the New Township Police Station in Durgapur have begun an investigation, the identities of the accused are yet to be known.
The local BJP leadership has already staged a protest against the incident, alleging that there was an attempt to suppress several details related to the RG Kar rape and murder case of a junior doctor. They demanded that no such cover-up should happen in this case.
National Commission for Women (NCW) member Archana Majumdar also expressed strong anger over the incident. Referring to the RG Kar case, she said, “Incidents of sexual assault and rape are increasing because the culprits are not being caught and punished promptly. We have not seen any rapist or murderer receive the ultimate punishment in West Bengal. No one has been hanged. Despite continuous protests, justice is being delayed, and no culprits are being punished as they should be, possibly due to some invisible influence.”
On August 9 last year, the body of a postgraduate trainee was found in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The incident sent shockwaves across the country and beyond, sparking widespread and sustained protests by doctors, ordinary citizens, and women from households alike. While the sole convict, Sanjoy Roy, has already been sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has still not completed its probe into the “larger conspiracy” behind the crime, even after a year.
