New Delhi: Three men have been arrested in UP’s Varanasi in connection with the alleged gang rape of an IIT-BHU student on campus in November.
The accused have been identified as Kunal Pandey, Anand Chauhan and Saksham Patel.
An officer from the city’s Lanka police station, while confirming the arrests, told ThePrint: “More details will only be given out during a press conference.” Lanka police station is where the victim had filed her complaint.
The FIR in the case, accessed by ThePrint, was registered on 2 November after the 19-year-old student allegedly complained that she was disrobed, molested and videographed by three unidentified men about 400 metres from a temple on the IIT-BHU premises.
Soon after the names of the accused came out, opposition leaders from the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress alleged that the trio is linked to the BJP, which is in power in Uttar Pradesh and at the Centre, and hold positions in the party’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 Party, 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 also quick to attack the BJP.
Alleging that an attempt was made to suppress the matter, the party posted on X Sunday: “Now after 60 days, three people involved in this incident have been caught. All these are BJP officials.”
It further alleged that the delay in arrest may have been because of 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
Asked about the allegations that the accused are office-bearers of the BJP’s IT cell, BJP’s UP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi told ThePrint that that strict action will be taken against the accused who have committed 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 said.
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
According to the complaint registered by the victim with the police, the men who assaulted her had arrived on a motorcycle when she was out for a walk on campus with a male friend at 1.30 am.
The woman alleges that the accused first separated her from her friend, then took her to a corner 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 complaint.
The incident led to protests by students at the institute director’s office, while demanding improved security on campus.
The initial FIR was lodged under Indian Penal Code sections 354-b (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and 506 (criminal intimidation) and charges under the IT Act.
However, ThePrint had reported that the police added “some IPC sections” to the initial FIR after the victim’s statement was recorded.
Police Commissioner Ashok Mutha Jain at the time neither confirmed nor denied a news report that quoted him as saying that the sections added were those pertaining to gangrape (IPC 376-d) and insult to the modesty of women (509).
Days after the incident, Mutha Jain had told 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 asked about the news report on the addition of gangrape charges, he said the police “do not share investigation proceedings with the media”.
The police had not got the girl’s medical examination conducted immediately after the incident. It was done after she recorded her statement before the magistrate.
The apparent reluctance of the police to confirm the precise nature of the investigation came amid allegations by students of IIT-BHU that attempts were made to convince the victim to remove references to sexual assault from her statement to the authorities.
With inputs from Shikha Salaria
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)