Durgapur survivor’s friend held after she claims molestation

DURGAPUR: A classmate of the Durgapur gang rape survivor was arrested Tuesday evening after she told a judicial magistrate, in an in-camera statement, that he had molested her when she stepped out of the campus with him on Oct 10.

The arrested second-year MBBS student will be produced in court Wednesday. It was yet unclear whether rape charges would be pressed against him too.Earlier in the day, police took the student, who had been detained for over 72 hours, to the crime spot — a forested patch about 1km from the private medical college — to recreate the events, including how he claimed to have fled the scene, leaving the survivor behind.Special arrangements were made to record the survivor’s in-camera statement in the hospital cabin where she was undergoing treatment.

The deposition continued for over two hours. According to sources, the survivor initially appeared anxious but was calm and collected after recording her statement. She told the magistrate she would not appear for an ensuing examination, but would sit for supplementary exams later.

Asansol Durgapur police commissioner Sunil Chowdhury said Tuesday evening that based on the survivor’s statement and other technical evidence, “only one person had committed the sexual physical assault” and specific roles of the other four present at the spot were “being investigated”.

All five had already been booked under charges of gang rape, he said.Sources said her statement was corroborated by medical examination, with doctors confirming that the injuries were consistent with sexual assault. “The medical legal report, forensic (blood samples and DNA), and technical (call details) are still awaited. We have the accused in custody. We are investigating to unearth their specific roles in this heinous crime,” Chowdhury said.The survivor, in her earlier statement to police, had said that while one person had raped her, two others watched the act; and two others later joined them and snatched her cellphone and demanded money. The stolen cellphone was recovered Tuesday morning.On Tuesday morning, cops visited the homes of the expelled hospital security guard and a Durgapur municipal corporation contractual employee in Birja village, collected the clothes they had been wearing on Oct 10, and sent them for forensic examination.