West Bengal: Court conducts Test Identification Parade in Durgapur rape case
Reports say that police found several discrepancies in the statements made by the victim, her classmate, the medical reports, and the five other suspects, who are all wage labourers. The classmate was arrested hours after the victim's confidential statement was recorded by a magistrate on October 14.
New Delhi: Following the gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on October 10 in a forested area near her college campus in West Burdwan district’s Durgapur town. The victim was subsequently taken to the local correctional home on Friday for the Test Identification Parade, police said.
"The test identification parade was recorded on video. The five suspects, who are all local villagers, were brought before the woman. The report will be placed before the Durgapur court during the next hearing,” a police officer said, requesting anonymity. The officer refused to disclose whether the woman had yet identified any of the villagers.
The student's 23-year-old friend, a resident of Kaliachak in Bengal’s Malda district, was arrested on October 14 shortly after Asansol-Durgapur police commissioner Sunil Kumar Choudhary ruled out gang rape and said he was not above suspicion. The classmate is lodged in the same correctional home.
What happened on October 10
Sources say that the student, accompanied by a male friend, went out of the college premises at around 8:30 pm. All of a sudden, she was approached by an unknown man who forcefully dragged her to a secluded spot and allegedly raped her. Horrified by the incident, the male friend fled from the scene.
Knowing about the incident, the police immediately initiated an investigation. They rushed to the scene and shifted the victim to the hospital, and directed the authorities to conduct a medical examination.
Several loopholes identified in victim's statement
Reports say that police found several discrepancies in the statements made by the victim, her classmate, the medical reports, and the five other suspects, who are all wage labourers. The classmate was arrested hours after the victim’s confidential statement was recorded by a magistrate on October 14.
The police commissioner said at that time that medical reports and inquiry directed that only one person was involved in the crime, contrary to the victim’s allegation that five men were involved.