Kolkata: A court in West Bengal’s Durgapur on Wednesday sent the arrested male friend of the gang rape victim to seven days police custody.
According to sources, no lawyer appeared for the accused male friend, Wasif Ali, when he was presented in the Durgapur court. As per the Supreme Court rules, a lawyer from the Durgapur Sub-divisional Legal Aid Centre represented him.
Meanwhile, the police have conducted DNA tests on five people who were arrested earlier.
On Tuesday, Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissioner Sunil Kumar Choudhary informed that only one person was involved in the physical sexual assault.
He also said that the role of the victim’s male friend is also being investigated. Ali was arrested after investigators found inconsistencies in his response during interrogation.
On Tuesday, the police took the arrested accused persons and the male friend to the forest area for reconstruction of the crime scene.
The second-year medical student from Odisha was allegedly gangrape by five persons in a forest area outside a private medical college and hospital in West Burdwan district’s Durgapur on Friday. Based on the complaint lodged by the victim, the police earlier arrested all five accused persons in the case. They are currently in police custody. With the arrest of the male friend, a total of six persons have been arrested in the gang rape case.
Meanwhile, according to hospital sources, the victim is now much better than before. She is slowly recovering and is in stable condition. On Tuesday, she recorded her statement before a judicial magistrate under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
Meanwhile, the victim’s father has demanded a CBI investigation into the matter to punish the culprits quickly. He also expressed dissatisfaction over the investigation carried out by the Bengal Police.
(IANS)
