Durgapur (West Bengal) [India], October 12 : Three persons arrested for allegedly raping a medical student in West Bengal's Durgapur were remanded to 10 days' police custody by a local court here on Sunday.
A second-year student of a private medical college was allegedly gangraped in Durgapur on Friday night. The survivor is from Jaleswar, Odisha.
The gangrape has sparked massive outrage, with the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of failing to protect women, while the ruling TMC slammed the BJP for allegedly politicising the incident.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders, including Locket Chatterjee and other party members, were stopped at the gates of Durgapur Hospital when they attempted to meet the survivor.
Earlier, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made a controversial remark advising colleges not to allow girls to go outside at night.
"I'm shocked to see the incident, but private medical colleges also should take care of their students, and especially girls. The girls should not be allowed to go outside (college) at night. They have to protect themselves also. There is a forest area. Police are searching all the people," Banerjee said.
Banerjee condemned the incident and assured that strong action would be taken against the perpetrators.
"Nobody will be excused. Whoever is guilty will be punished strictly. Three people have already been arrested. We will take stringent action... When it happens in other states, it is also condemnable," she said.
The West Bengal CM drew parallels with crimes in other states, questioning the silence over them."Three weeks ago, three girls were raped on the beach in Odisha. What action is being taken by the Odisha government?. Such incidents have taken place in Manipur, UP, Bihar, Odisha; we also think the government must take stringent action there," she said.
According to the victim's father, she stepped out with a classmate to get something to eat. However, two or three other men arrived and raped her. The classmate, he said then "abandoned her and fled."
"At 10 PM, her friend called us and said that your daughter had been raped. We live in Jaleshwar. My daughter was studying here. Yesterday, one of her classmates took her out on the pretext of getting something to eat, but when two or three other men arrived, he abandoned her and fled. They raped her... This incident occurred between 8:00 and 9:00 PM. The hostel was far away, and she had come here to eat. The security arrangements are not sufficient... Such a serious incident occurred, but no action has been taken. There is no system here, no response..." the student's father told reporters.
Shovana Mohanty, Chairperson of the Odisha State Commission for Women, also said that she, along with a team, will visit West Bengal to probe the alleged gangrape of a medical student hailing from Odisha in West Bengal's Durgapur.
Mohanty told ANI that the team will conduct a counselling session with the victim medical student and check if she is receiving proper treatment in Durgapur.
Condemning the incident, Shovana Mohanty said, "As the Chairperson of Odisha Women Commission, I wrote a letter to the DG and IG, addressing the crimes against women. My team and I will be going to West Bengal to look into the matter. I am from Balasore, and the gangrape incident that has happened with this MBBS student from Balasore is very unfortunate."