One of the accused in the rape case of a 20-year-old woman last week, after being called for a birthday party, has been arrested by the Kolkata Police. The arrested man is Chandan Malik, who was detained by Kolkata police on Tuesday, 9th September, at Burdwan Station. The police added that another accused in the case, Debangshu Biswas, is still on the run.
As per the media reports, the crime was committed on Friday (5th September) in Haridevpur locality of Kolkata. A young woman was raped by a Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker and his aide. The victim went to a house with Malik after being told about a ‘birthday party.’ She had known the accused for a few months before then.
“The woman’s birthday was on Friday. On that occasion, the accused Chandan and Deep took the victim to the latter’s flat. There, they had a meal. She said that when she wanted to return home, the accused stopped her. They allegedly locked the door and gang-raped her,” a cop informed.
In her complaint, the woman said that both Malik and Biswas took turns to rape her around 10:45 pm that night. She further said that she was confined in the house through the night and was able to escape only the next morning, on Saturday (6th September). She then went to the Haridevpur police station and lodged a formal complaint.
A case was registered under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including kidnapping, rape, stalking, voluntarily causing hurt, causing grievous hurt, and wrongful confinement.
Investigators have also spoken to the owner of the house, who said that the property had been rented to Biswas. He informed the police that Biswas introduced himself as a government employee who would be staying there with his mother.
It has come to light that Biswas is not only a government employee working as a revenue inspector with the state’s land reforms department but is also a worker of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). Local reports suggest that the ground floor of the building where the crime took place had been rented to Biswas.