Bengal rape case: Sister of accused planned meeting, led cops to him

The elder sister of one of the accused in the rape case of a medical student in West Bengal's Durgapur played a key role in his arrest. The woman, Rozina Sk, planned a meeting with her brother and led police to the spot, according to a report in The Times of India.

It was considered to be a gangrape case, but on Tuesday evening, police said it was a case of rape. All the five accused have been arrested, said police.

On Friday, the medical student from Odisha was sexually assaulted in a forest near her institute as she stepped out with a friend for dinner.

In a statement during her treatment, she recounted how the men took her phone, forced her to call her friend, and when he didn't show up, they pushed her further inside the jungle and sexually assaulted her.

The five accused and the woman's friend were taken to the spot on Tuesday for crime-scene reconstruction, which will help in a watertight case. A report by news agency PTI identified the spot of the crime as Paranaganj Kali Bari cremation ground.

Rozina Sk fixed a meeting with her brother, Safiq Sk, under a bridge in Andal area of Durgapur on Monday, according to the report in The Times of India. She reached the spot with a police team and asked her brother to give himself up and face the law.

He had been absconding since Friday.

She told the newspaper that her brother was "trembling with fear" in the police vehicle that took them to the police station from the spot of the meeting. She said that she assured her brother that he had done the right thing by turning himself in, and had nothing to fear if he wasn't guilty.

Safiq and another accused, Sk Nasiruddin, were arrested on Monday. Three others, Sk Riyazuddin, Apu Barui and Firdaus Sk, were arrested in the case on Sunday, according to the report.

Rozina told The Times of India that the police visits to their home since the day of the rape had brought "disrepute" to the family, but "not anymore".

On Tuesday, Sunil Kumar Chowdhury, Commissioner of Police of Asansol-Durgapur, said it wasn't a case of gangrape.

"As per the statement given by the survivor and based on physical evidence, it has been established that only one person was involved in the sexual assault," said Chowdhury.

Clarity is yet to emerge in the case even that has by become political because of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's statements and the BJP's attacks over the deteriorating law and order situation in the Trinamool Congress-led state.

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