Nearly two months after a female student was allegedly disrobed and sexually assaulted inside the IIT-BHU campus leading to protests, three men were arrested by the police in connection with the incident. Officers identified the accused as Kunal Pandey, Anand Chauhan and Saksham Patel – all residents of Varanasi and in their twenties.
Speaking to The Indian Express on Sunday morning, a senior police officer said, “The three accused have been arrested. We will release more details during the day.”
The incident happened on the night of November 1 inside the IIT-BHU campus, when the victim alleged that three unidentified men, who came on a motorcycle, forcibly kissed her and recorded a video of her after taking her clothes off. The next day, hundreds of students gathered in protest at the institute director’s office demanding better security on campus.
The student, in her police complaint on November 2, stated: “I am a resident of a hostel at IIT-BHU. On November 2, around 1.30 am, I left my hostel for a walk. I met a male friend… We were walking together when…a motorcycle with three men approached us from behind. They parked their motorcycle there and separated my friend and me”.
“They shut my mouth tightly and took me to a corner, kissed me forcibly, took off my clothes and recorded photos and videos. When I shouted for help, they threatened to kill me. They let me go after 10-15 minutes. When I ran towards my hostel, I heard the sound of the motorcycle. Then, I hid at the residence of a professor, who took me to the security officials,” she had said.
The initial First Information Report (FIR) in the case was lodged against unidentified men under sections 354-B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under the IT Act.
Days after the incident, the police said they added charges of gangrape to the FIR after the victim gave a fresh statement. IPC sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 507 (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication), and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman) were also added.
The Indian Express had earlier reported that two days before the incident, another student faced a similar ordeal on the night of October 30, and the Proctor’s office was informed about it. The institute’s Dean had confirmed to The Indian Express that a complaint regarding the October 30 incident was received by the Proctor’s office and that action was being taken.
Several members of the IIT-BHU Students’ Parliament said that there had been “a delay in taking action in the earlier incident”. Both incidents happened at a relatively isolated spot on the campus.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 31-12-2023 at 12:49 IST
