Durgapur gang rape: Police re-enact crime with 5 accused, survivor’s friend

The five accused in the Durgapur gang-rape case were taken to the crime scene on Tuesday (October 14) afternoon to reconstruct the crime.

The survivor’s friend, who was detained and is reportedly under “police protection”, was also taken to the crime scene in a forested stretch next to the Paranganj Kali Bari cremation ground.

According to the police, they asked the arrested accused and the survivor’s friend to “re-enact” their respective roles when the alleged crime took place on the night of October 10.

Also Read: Durgapur gang rape exposes chinks in Bengal women’s safety yet again

Reconstruction of crime scene

Speaking to news agency PTI, one of the investigating officers said, “The entire reconstruction will be videotaped and then tallied with their statements. We will also verify this with the statement of the victim.”

Before bringing all of them to the crime scene, officers also questioned the survivor’s friend, who is also a student at the private medical college where she studies, for nearly an hour. While the survivor has mentioned him as a “dost” (friend) in her complaint, her father has referred to him as an accused in his.

Also Read: Durgapur gang rape: 2 more arrested; cops say ‘all 5 accused’ held

Clothes sent for forensic test

On Tuesday morning, two of the five arrested accused were taken to their respective residences, primarily to find evidence linked to the crime that they might have concealed.

During the search, police seized a few clothes from the duo’s homes, which were allegedly worn by them during the crime. Earlier, clothes belonging to the other three accused were seized from their possessions as part of the investigation.

“These clothes will be sent for forensic examination. The results will help in our investigation,” the police official told PTI, adding that the background of the five arrested accused was also checked to find out whether they were involved in any prior crimes.

The police have also sent their mobile phones for forensic examination and have questioned the survivor’s classmates.

Also Read: Durgapur gangrape: CM’s remark sparks Oppn ire; victim’s father cites life threat

According to the officer, the five arrested accused would be taken for medical examination later on Tuesday.

The five accused

The survivor, a second-year student hailing from Odisha’s Jaleswar, was allegedly sexually assaulted by the five arrested men about 1.5 km from the campus of the private medical college in Durgapur between 8 pm and 8.45 pm on Friday when she was out for dinner with the friend mentioned earlier.

Surprisingly, the accused snatched her phone and took turns assaulting her as her “friend” fled but they did not take the jewellery she was wearing.

Among the five, the prime accused is Safiq Sheikh (28) from Birja, a village near Durgapur. He reportedly works in a rolling mill, and it was his elder sister Rozina Sheikh who reportedly helped the police catch him on Monday.

Also read: 'Dragged, threatened with assault by more men': Durgapur gang rape victim recalls ordeal

The TMC link

According to a report in The Times of India, Rozina arranged to meet her brother below Andal bridge and handed him over to the police when he arrived. Saying that Safiq was trembling in fear as he turned himself in, Rozina told TOI that her family was poor but they have self-respect and they should not be shamed because of what he did. She also claimed he had never misbehaved with any woman.

Of the four other accused, the oldest, Riyazuddin Sheikh (31), is a former security guard at the same medical college as attended by the survivor. He was reportedly sacked five years ago, after working for about 14 months, because of unruly behaviour. He is also from Birja village.

Riyazuddin’s father, Sheikh Jamir, is reportedly a Trinamool Congress functionary and a local labour contractor. He has refused to shield his son and claimed that he had been asking his son for the past three years to leave home, according to a TOI report.

Also read: Mamata on Durgapur gangrape: 'Girls shouldn’t venture out at night'

Extortion and harassment

The third accused, Apu Barui (22), is reportedly a daily wager and has a two-year-old child. The fourth, Firdaus Sheikh (23), is a Group D staffer at another hospital, while the fifth one, Sheikh Nasiruddin (24), also from Birja, is a temporary worker at the local civic body.

According to TOI, it has now emerged that the five would often harass and extort couples at that desolate spot near the medical college where the alleged gang rape took place. There is a bridge across a canal nearby, about a kilometre from the campus, where they would run their reign of terror, though none had a criminal record. According to TOI, they funded their addiction with the money they extorted from couples looking for some privacy.

Also read: A year after RG Kar horror, anger, discontent still on the boil

The aftermath

The Durgapur Bar Association has refused to defend any of the accused. Legal aid counsel Pooja Kurmi has reportedly been appointed as their lawyer but she has not sought bail.

While the survivor’s father has said he would not allow her to continue her studies in Durgapur, the private medical college has reportedly requested that she complete her course there. The medical college administration has also urged students to act “responsibly” while stepping out of the campus, which reportedly has a 10 pm curfew hour.

The National Commission for Women has also urged the National Medical Commission and the university authorities to ensure her academic continuity. It has issued an 11-point directive, recommending special exams for her, a transfer option to another medical college, and better security, including CCTV cameras and a police outpost on the campus, and a fast-track trial.

Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissioner Sunil Kumar Choudhary told the media earlier, “We are satisfied with the progress of the investigation and assure the [survivor’s] parents that the culprits will not be spared.”