Kolkata: Authorities in West Bengal have apprehended a 23-year-old classmate of a medical student who had alleged a gang-rape incident near her college campus in Durgapur on October 10. The arrest followed a press conference by Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissioner Sunil Kumar Choudhary, who stated that the gang-rape allegation was unlikely and indicated that the victim’s friend was not above suspicion.
The classmate, hailing from Malda district, was initially detained on October 11. He was reportedly with the survivor when the alleged incident occurred, as they had gone out for dinner. While five local villagers had been arrested previously, Commissioner Choudhary clarified that only one individual is currently believed to be involved, though investigations into the others are ongoing. He emphasized that the victim’s friend, who was with her at the time, is also a person of interest.
The victim’s clothes, along with those of other suspects, have been seized for forensic examination. The survivor’s statement was officially recorded by a magistrate. Notably, the victim’s father had also identified the classmate as a suspect in his initial police complaint.
Security camera footage from the college shows the survivor and her male friend leaving campus together. The friend returned to campus briefly before leaving again and reappearing with the survivor later. The survivor later claimed her friend was contacted by the alleged perpetrators from her phone after the assault.
Police have stated that the initial arrests were based on call records and circumstantial evidence, as the victim could not identify all suspects. Some discrepancies have been noted between the survivor’s initial statement to doctors and her later statement to the police, as well as between witness accounts and medical reports. The recovered mobile phone, which the survivor alleged was taken by the attackers and for which a ransom of ₹3,000 was demanded, has been retrieved from one of the suspects.
The investigation also saw political undertones, with the survivor’s father alleging initial lack of police cooperation, which he claimed was resolved after intervention from the Odisha Chief Minister. Police have refuted these claims, stating they had offered security and met with the father. Meanwhile, political parties, including the BJP, staged protests, leading to court intervention that restricted outside access to the hospital where the survivor is admitted.