Test Identification Parade held in Bengal medical college rape case
The five suspects, who are all local villagers, were brought before the woman. The TI parade report will be placed before the Durgapur court during the next hearing
Kolkata: The 23-year-old medical student allegedly gang-raped on October 10 in a forested area near her college campus in West Burdwan district’s Durgapur town was taken to the local correctional home on Friday for the Test Identification Parade, police said.
“The test identification parade was recorded on video. The five suspects, who are all local villagers, were brought before the woman. The report will be placed before the Durgapur court during the next hearing,” a police officer said, requesting anonymity.
He refused to say whether the woman, a resident of Jaleshwar in Odisha, could identify the villagers.
The woman’s 23-year-old classmate, a resident of Kaliachak in Bengal’s Malda district, was arrested on October 14 shortly after Asansol-Durgapur police commissioner Sunil Kumar Choudhary ruled out gang rape and said he was not above suspicion. The classmate is lodged in the same correctional home.
The crime took place between 8 pm and 9.30 pm on October 10, when the woman left the campus of the private IQ City Medical College Hospital with her classmate to have dinner.
During the last court hearing, special public prosecutor Bibhas Chatterjee appealed for the TI parade but said the victim’s friend was not required for the exercise as he was not unknown to the victim.
HT reported on October 13 that police found several discrepancies in the statements made by the victim, her classmate, the medical reports, and the five other suspects, who are all wage labourers. The classmate was arrested hours after the victim’s confidential statement was recorded by a magistrate on October 14.
The police commissioner said at that time that medical reports and police investigation established that only one person committed the crime, contrary to the victim’s allegation that five men were involved.