Durgapur gangrape case: Statements of two of six accused recorded

Kolkata, Oct 21 (IANS) The statements of two of the six accused in connection with the rape case of a second-year medical student of a private medical college and hospital at Durgapur in West Burdwan district of West Bengal at a forested area outside the college earlier this month were recorded on Tuesday before the judicial magistrate at a court.

Insiders from the Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate said that the statements of two of the six accused individuals were recorded under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023, which allows a judicial magistrate to record confessions and statements from an accused person or witness during an investigation.

After the statements were recorded in front of the judicial magistrate on Tuesday, the two accused persons were sent back to custody.

All six accused persons will be presented before the same district court at Durgapur again on Wednesday.

Now, with the statements of two of the six accused persons being recorded in front of the judicial magistrate, there is a possibility that the two accused persons might turn approvers in the case.

Even after six days of questioning, the police, during their investigation, have found discrepancies in the statements of the Durgapur gang-rape victim's male friend and five arrested youths from the local village.

The police are trying to find some missing links in this gang-rape case, officials said.

On October 10, the second-year medical student from Odisha was allegedly gang-raped by five persons in a forested area outside a private medical college and hospital in West Burdwan district's Durgapur.

Based on the complaint lodged by the victim, the police earlier arrested all five accused persons in the case.

The police said that only one person was involved in the physical sexual assault of the medical student.

Later, the police arrested the male friend of the victim.

The male friend was arrested after investigators found inconsistencies in his response during interrogation.

He is also currently in police custody.

The victim's father, meanwhile, demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the incident to punish the culprits quickly.

--IANS

src/khz