West Bengal: Medical student from Odisha allegedly gang-raped in Durgapur

A medical student from Odisha was allegedly gang-raped on Friday night in West Bengal’s Durgapur district, The Hindu reported.

The woman is a second-year MBBS student enrolled at a private medical college in Durgapur. On Friday night, she had gone out with a male friend, when she was allegedly gang-raped by a group of men near the campus.

The police have arrested three men in connection with the case, and are searching for two others, India Today reported. The police are also questioning the student’s friend about the sequence of events.

The student’s father said a friend of his daughter called him and said that she had been raped. “They asked me to come here [Durgapur] as soon as possible,” he told the newspaper. “They [assailants] stole her mobile and took money from her.”

The alleged gang-rape sparked protests from students at the medical college. Opposition leaders also alleged that the offence reflected the lack of women’s safety in West Bengal.

State Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Agnimitra Paul remarked that women in West Bengal are not safe even though the state has a woman chief minister.

“The Mamata Banerjee government has completely failed to ensure women’s safety,” Paul said in a social media post. “Today, every woman in Bengal is asking how safe are we in this Bengal?”

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