Kolkata : All six accused in the Durgapur gang-rape case, including the victim’s male friend, will appear before a local court on Wednesday. The police plan to seek an extension of their custody to continue the ongoing investigation.
Officials confirmed that the victim’s male friend, Wasif Ali, will stand before the court along with the five other accused. Investigators found several contradictions in their statements, which have complicated the probe into the alleged assault on a second-year medical student.
Police sources said these inconsistencies have hindered efforts to establish a clear timeline of the incident. Investigators aim to question the accused further to close the gaps in their findings.
On Tuesday, two of the accused gave their statements before a judicial magistrate under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) 2023. This section authorizes magistrates to record confessions and witness statements during an investigation. After the hearing, authorities returned the two to custody. Officials believe they may turn approvers, which could help expose crucial details of the crime.
According to officers from the Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate, six days of questioning revealed major inconsistencies in the accounts given by the victim’s male friend and five youths from a nearby village. The police are working to identify the missing links and reconstruct the full sequence of events.
The case began on October 10, when a second-year medical student from Odisha alleged that five men gang-raped her in a forested area near a private medical college and hospital in Durgapur, West Burdwan district. Acting on her complaint, police arrested all five suspects and later detained her male friend after finding contradictions in his version of events. Investigators believe one man carried out the assault while the others assisted him.
The victim’s father urged the authorities to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), saying only a central agency could ensure a fair and speedy probe. “We want the culprits punished quickly. Only a CBI inquiry can uncover the truth,” he said.
–IANS
