New turn in Durgapur rape case as cops claim 'contradictions', point to CCTV footage

THe alleged Durgapur gangrape caseful of due west Bengal took a young turn over as the police force on Tuesday said several contradictions have appeared in the statements made by the survivor, her friend, the medical records and the arrested suspects. Police said the security camera footage also contradicted the later versions of the event.Police on Monday arrested a fifth suspect, Sheikh Safiqul, in connection with the alleged assault of a 23-year-old medical student near her college campus on the evening of October 10. ‘Contradictions’ emergeCiting contradictions in testimonies, medical reports, and surveillance evidence, officers of the at the Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate said the woman, who hails from Odisha's Jaleswar, in her initial statement to the doctor said there were three persons and only one of them committed the crime. She later said five persons dragged her to the forest and gangraped her, the officer said.“In her initial statement to the doctor the student said there were three persons and only one of them committed the crime. We have that record as well as the medical reports. However, she later told the police that said five persons dragged her to the forest and gangraped her,” a senior police officer (who requested anonymity) told HT. The discrepancy raises serious questions over the accuracy and consistency of the survivor’s statements, " an earlier HT report quoted a senior police officer, who requested anonymity.Further complicating the investigation, footage from the college’s security cameras appears to contradict the later version of events. Video shows survivor returning to campus ‘calmly’The video shows the survivor returning to campus with her friend, her clothes intact, walking calmly, and without seeking help from security personnel at the gate, a second officer said, adding there is always evidence when a woman is "dragged" through a jungle and gangraped. “When a woman is dragged through a jungle by five men and gangraped, there is always evidence. The college authorities gave us the security camera footage showing her returning to the campus with her friend. We studied it. Her clothes appeared intact and she walked calmly. The college’s security personnel were on duty at the gates. She did not seek their assistance,” the second officer said.“The woman said the culprits called up her friend from her phone after the gangrape but kept the device saying it would be returned only if she paid ₹3,000. She alleged that they took ₹200 that she was carrying. The phone was seized from one of the suspects arrested on Sunday,” the above-mentioned police officer said.All five suspects - Sheikh Safiqul, Sheikh Nasiruddin, Apu Bauri (21), Firdous Shiekh (23), and Sheikh Riazuddin (32) have been remanded in police by a court. All five men hail from local villages and have been charged under Sections 70(1) (gang rape) and 3(5) (criminal act with common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, according to the remand petition seen by HT.Police said the arrests were made on the basis of phone call records and circumstantial evidence as the student did not mention any name in her complaint. The survivor’s male classmate, with whom she had left the campus to have food at a dhaba on the evening of October 10, is also being questioned by the police.The police complaint was lodged by the survivor’s father, who named his the male classmate as a suspect in addition to five anonymous persons.The crime was allegedly committed after 8 pm and the survivor’s father claimed before the media that his daughter’s classmates called him up around 9.30 pm.Police said there is no evidence so far of any of the five suspects having criminal antecedent.