New Delhi: Three males have been arrested in UP’s Varanasi in reference to the alleged gang rape of an IIT-BHU pupil on campus in November.
The accused have been recognized as Kunal Pandey, Anand Chauhan and Saksham Patel.
An officer from the town’s Lanka police station, whereas confirming the arrests, instructed ThePrint: “More details will only be given out during a press conference.” Lanka police station is the place the sufferer had filed her grievance.
The FIR within the case, accessed by ThePrint, was registered on 2 November after the 19-year-old pupil allegedly complained that she was disrobed, molested and videographed by three unidentified males about 400 metres from a temple on the IIT-BHU premises.
Quickly after the names of the accused got here out, opposition leaders from the Samajwadi Occasion (SP) and Congress alleged that the trio is linked to the BJP, which is in energy in Uttar Pradesh and on the Centre, and maintain positions within the social gathering’s IT cell in Varanasi.
Former UP chief minister and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav wrote on X Sunday: “These are the new crop of BJP workers who are growing and roaming openly under the patronage of senior BJP leaders, whose search was going on under the ‘so-called zero tolerance government’, but only under the pressure of solid evidence and growing anger among the public, the BJP government finally arrested these criminals… this is the same BJP member who had crossed all limits of indecency with a BHU student.”
“Every woman across the country is seeing how BJP is playing arbitrarily with women’s dignity and is protecting those accused of atrocities, harassment and rape,” Yadav, chief of Samajwadi Occasion, added.
ये हैं भाजपा के दिग्गज नेताओं की छत्रछाया में सरेआम पनपते और घूमते भाजपाइयों की वो नयी फसल, जिनकी ‘तथाकथित ज़ीरो टॉलरेंस सरकार’ में दिखावटी तलाश जारी थी लेकिन पुख़्ता सबूतों और जनता के बीच बढ़ते गुस्से के दबाव में भाजपा सरकार को आख़िरकार इन दुष्कर्मियों को गिरफ़्तार करना ही… pic.twitter.com/VgVJFZBPUO
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) December 31, 2023
The Congress was additionally fast to assault the BJP.
Alleging that an try was made to suppress the matter, the social gathering posted on X Sunday: “Now after 60 days, three people involved in this incident have been caught. All these are BJP officials.”
It additional alleged that the delay in arrest could have been due to the accused’s “closeness to senior BJP leaders”.
2 महीने पहले BHU के कैम्पस में एक छात्रा का गैंगरेप हुआ.
इस मामले को पहले दबाने की कोशिश की गई, जब दबाव बना तो जैसे-तैसे यूपी पुलिस ने FIR लिखी.
अब 60 दिन बाद इस घटना में शामिल 3 लोग पकड़े गए हैं. ये सभी BJP के पदाधिकारी हैं.
गिरफ़्तारी में देरी शायद इन वजहों से हुई होगी 👇🏽… pic.twitter.com/jRyaL7ts1h
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 31, 2023
Requested concerning the allegations that the accused are office-bearers of the BJP’s IT cell, BJP’s UP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi instructed ThePrint that that strict motion might be taken towards the accused who’ve dedicated the crime. “Any member of the public can get pictures clicked with leaders of the party. Even if they have got pictures clicked with anyone, they will face the law of the land and strict action will be taken against them under our government as they have been arrested now,” he stated.
He added: “In the past, when such incidents would take place in Akhilesh Yadav’s regime (in UP) or if any person from Rahul Gandhi’s party (Congress) would have committed the crime, action would not have been taken. But in our government, strict action will be taken against them.”
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The case
In line with the grievance registered by the sufferer with the police, the boys who assaulted her had arrived on a bike when she was out for a stroll on campus with a male pal at 1.30 am.
The girl alleges that the accused first separated her from her pal, then took her to a nook after gagging her.
“When I shouted for help, they threatened to kill me. They snatched my phone and kept me for 10-15 minutes after which they left me. I ran towards my hostel from there when I heard a bike approaching,” she states in her grievance.
The incident led to protests by college students on the institute director’s workplace, whereas demanding improved safety on campus.
The preliminary FIR was lodged underneath Indian Penal Code sections 354-b (assault or use of legal power to lady with intent to disrobe) and 506 (legal intimidation) and expenses underneath the IT Act.
Nonetheless, ThePrint had reported that the police added “some IPC sections” to the preliminary FIR after the sufferer’s assertion was recorded.
Police Commissioner Ashok Mutha Jain on the time neither confirmed nor denied a information report that quoted him as saying that the sections added had been these pertaining to gangrape (IPC 376-d) and insult to the modesty of ladies (509).
Days after the incident, Mutha Jain had instructed ThePrint: “Some sections have been increased and the court has been informed after the victim’s statement was recorded under CrPC 164 (statement before magistrate) and CrPC 161 (statement before police).”
When requested concerning the information report on the addition of gangrape expenses, he stated the police “do not share investigation proceedings with the media”.
The police had not acquired the lady’s medical examination carried out instantly after the incident. It was carried out after she recorded her assertion earlier than the Justice of the Peace.
The obvious reluctance of the police to verify the exact nature of the investigation got here amid allegations by college students of IIT-BHU that makes an attempt had been made to persuade the sufferer to take away references to sexual assault from her assertion to the authorities.
With inputs from Shikha Salaria
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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