Kolkata: Three college students were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly gang-raping a 16-year-old schoolgirl they had befriended on social media in a Golpark guest house on Dec 19 last year.
They also filmed the assault and threatened to release the video to force her into silence. A fourth accused is absconding.
The arrests came after the girl’s father, a London-based software engineer, filed a police complaint on Monday after returning to Kolkata earlier this month.
Soham Banerjee (18), Rishi Agarwal (19) and Aryan Mishra (20) were arrested from their homes and charged under Pocso sections dealing with aggravated penetrative sexual assault and BNS sections related to gang rape, voyeurism, criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation. They were remanded in police custody till May 8.
According to police, the Class VIII student, who suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD), was added to an Instagram group called ‘Sexy 2.0’, where she met the boys. “The accused manipulated her into meeting them under the pretext of having lunch and watching a movie. They then persuaded her to accompany them to a guest house where the assault occurred,” a senior officer said.
On Dec 19, the girl’s mother had dropped her at Lake Mall, believing that she was meeting friends for lunch.
Girl forced to arrange money for room, booze
According to the complaint, the accused took her to a nearby guest house and forced her to arrange money through UPI from her father, who was in the UK, to book two rooms and purchase alcohol. When her ‘boyfriend’ Soham went out to buy alcohol, Rishi first raped the girl.
“She tried to resist, but was overpowered. Once he left, she went to the other room and told the friends about her ordeal but Soham locked her up and told her that since Rishi had already had sex with her, he would do the same. Soham, Rishi, Aryan and another friend took turns to rape her and when she tried to resist, they became violent,” the officer said, quoting the complaint. The girl sustained injuries and was sent home in an app bike after being threatened with dire consequences if she reported the crime.
Sources said the delay in filing the complaint was due to the family’s concerns about the girl’s mental well-being and social stigma. The mother, in her complaint, said one of the accused had even started sharing videos of the girl with her friends.
“It is one of the most brutal cases of sexual assault in recent times where a minor was violently abused by her friends. We demand the strictest punishment in this case,” said Anirban Guha Thakurta, lawyer for the complainant. Sources said that the medical report had confirmed rape.
Pocso court public prosecutor Madhabi Ghosh said, “We have made seizures, including mobile phones of the accused and some cash memos, which will be sent for forensic examination. More arrests are likely. The court has granted permission for medico-legal examination of the girl and the accused. The girl’s confidential statement will also be recorded.”
When TOI visited the Golpark guest house, its owner said: “I can show you logbook entries, CCTV footage and UPI transaction history. I stay with my wife in the same building. My son is a lawyer. We have spoken to police already.”
(With inputs by Debobrata Shome in Kolkata)
(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
