Durgapur gang-rape: Survivor’s male friend arrested, brought to crime scene for reconstruction

The West Bengal Police on Wednesday produced the male friend of the Durgapur gang-rape survivor in a local court following his arrest the previous evening. He was also brought to the Place of Occurrence (POA), a forest patch near the private medical college, for reconstruction of the crime scene, sources said.

With his arrest, the total number of accused in the case has risen to six. Meanwhile, two other accused, already in police remand, were taken to their village in Bijra.

The arrest of Wasef Ali came after the survivor, in her in-camera statement before the judicial magistrate, said her male friend had molested her when she stepped out of the campus. The second-year medical student identified him as Wasef Ali on the evening of October 10.


Ali hails from Malda district. Police reportedly found inconsistencies in his statement, prompting the arrest.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ali, along with the five accused, was taken to the forested area outside the private medical college and hospital to reconstruct the crime scene. Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissioner Sunil Kumar Choudhary had said the role of the survivor’s male friend is also being investigated.

Choudhary said, “As per technical and scientific evidence connected and the statement of the victim girl, we have found physical sexual assault has been committed by one person. The involvement of all these five persons is being investigated. The role of the friend of the victim girl, also present at the POA apart from the other five persons, is also under investigation.”

He added, “We have been questioning the friend to find out his involvement. None of the five arrested accused was known to the victim.”

The CP also confirmed, “Five accused and the victim’s friend’s apparels have been seized. The FSL team has visited the Place of Occurrence (POA). The accused and the victim girl's friend were taken to the crime scene today, and reconstruction of the crime scene was done. The friend’s behaviour is not above doubt.”

“The technical evidence proved that they were there at the crime spot that day. We were verbally informed at around 1 o'clock, and our mobile van reached there by 1:05 AM. We got a written complaint at around 3:38 AM. The POA was guarded from the beginning,” he said, adding that police were investigating whether the girl and her friend were found in a compromising position by the criminals.

The second-year medical student from Odisha was gang-raped by five persons in a forest patch about a kilometre from the private medical college and hospital in West Burdwan district’s Durgapur on October 10. Following her complaint, all five accused have been arrested.