In a strong show of protest, local lawyers in Durgapur have refused to appear in court on behalf of a classmate arrested in connection with the rape of a second-year medical student at a private medical college. The accused was produced before the Durgapur sub-divisional court on Wednesday, where no advocate came forward to defend him.
Earlier, members of the Durgapur Bar Association had also declined to represent the five other accused arrested in the same case. Association president Debabrata Sai said, “No one will fight in court on behalf of those accused of such a heinous crime.”
The shocking incident occurred on the night of October 10, when a second-year medical student was allegedly raped in a forested area near the college. “CCTV footage shows the young woman leaving the college gate around 7.58 pm with the accused classmate and the two returned around 8.42 pm. They again left the campus and returned around 9.30 pm,” said an officer probing into the incident.
After receiving a complaint of gang-rape, police arrested five accused in phases. The classmate, who had initially been detained and interrogated, was arrested on Tuesday night after investigators found inconsistencies in his statement during a reconstruction of the crime scene.
Police Commissioner of Durgapur police commissionerate Sunil Chowdhury said on Tuesday, “According to the victim’s statement, she was raped by one person. The role of the others is being investigated.” Samples for DNA tests of all six accused have been collected and the report is awaited.
Sources said the accused classmate appeared visibly shaken while being brought to court. He was reportedly kept overnight at New Township Police Station, where he could not sleep. The young man, a resident of Malda, had been under suspicion since the beginning of the probe, with his name also mentioned in the victim’s father’s complaint.
Police have now added multiple charges against him, including gang rape under Sections 70(1)/3(5), as well as Sections 304(2) (kidnapping) and 308(2) (extortion of money) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The case took a dramatic turn on Tuesday when the police took the classmate, along with the five previously arrested men from Bijra village, to Paranganj forest for a reconstruction of the crime. The process, which lasted about three hours, was videographed and supervised by Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Abhishek Gupta, ACP (Durgapur) Subir Roy and other senior officers.
"The clothes worn by the classmate on the night of the incident have been sent for forensic testing,” said a police officer.
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