Kolkata/Bhubaneswar: The male classmate of the second-year MBBS student from Odisha, whom he had accompanied on the fateful night of October 10 when she was allegedly gangraped in West Bengal’s Durgapur, has been accused of misleading the investigators.
Wasef Ali, a resident of Malda, was arrested on October 14 after his replies were found incoherent.
According to a TOI report, Wasef told police on October 11 that the survivor confided in him about the rape but they agreed to keep it a secret. The incident came to light through the survivor’s hostel roommate, also a second-year MBBS student. Two other aspects of her statement raised suspicion against him. She revealed that the survivor was forced to call Wasef during the attack and when he came, “he had a long talk of around 30 minutes with one of the assailants.
She also noted Wasef fled and ignored calls when the attackers caught hold of the survivor.
Wasef, however, claimed they hid in forest hedges when accosted by stalkers on a bike while out for a walk outside the campus. He said he later returned and took the survivor to her hostel, mentioning only briefly that she asked about bleeding and revealed the assault.
On Thursday, police visited his triple-occupancy room (418-T) in the New Boys Hostel at IQ City Medical College in Durgapur’s Shivapur area twice and seized a pair of shorts and a bag with 11 condoms. A condom was also found in the 50-meter area of the crime scene, which has been cordoned off, the report added.
Wasef has been booked under several sections pertaining to gangrape, extortion, and snatching.
A total of six persons have been arrested in connection with the incident and police have established the presence of the other five at the place where the crime was carried out. The mobile phone snatched from the survivor was also recovered.
“The survivor was in a relationship with the arrested friend. We have gathered sufficient evidence to establish that. Their interaction on WhatsApp also supports it,” the PTI reported, quoting a police officer, who added that they repeatedly changed their versions of the incident in a deliberate attempt to mislead the probe.