Classmate of gang-rape survivor tried to mislead probe, say cops

Durgapur: Wasef Ali, the second-year MBBS student and the Durgapur gang-rape survivor's classmate, tried to mislead investigators, police sources said on Thursday. It was the survivor's hostel roommate, also a second-year MBBS student, who brought the incident to light.In his initial statement to police on Oct 11, Wasef said his classmate told him that she was raped, but they decided to keep the incident under wraps and "did not want to tell it to anyone". On the night of Oct 10, he said he accompanied her back to the hostel room and then returned to his own hostel. He mentioned that since she did not have a phone with her, he could not think of doing anything else.However, the survivor's hostel roommate informed the authorities about it. In her statement, she referred to two aspects about Wasef's statements that raised police suspicion. She told the police that the survivor was asked by her attackers to call Wasef, and when he came, "he had a long talk of around 30 minutes with one of them". She also said that when they caught hold of the survivor, they asked her to call Wasef, "who ran away and wasn't picking calls".TOI earlier reported the survivor's testimony to police on Oct 11, when she detailed how Wasef abandoned her and refused to respond to her calls. But Wasef, in his statement to police, craftily dodged this fact. He claimed they were out for a walk outside the campus when accosted. He claimed they ran in fear and hid in the forest hedges to evade their stalkers, who were on a bike. A little while later, he claimed to have returned and took the survivor back to her hostel room. The only reference to what she faced was a couple of sentences when he said that the survivor asked her whether she was bleeding, and he asked her why. The survivor, he claimed, told her that one of her attackers forcibly had sex with her.After arresting Wasef on Wednesday and charging him with gangrape, extortion, and snatching, police on Thursday visited room number 418-T, the triple occupancy room in which Wasef lived in the medical college. This room is located on the fourth floor of the New Boys Hostel. Police visited Wasef's hostel room twice on Thursday. At 7.05 am, the OC and ASI from the New Township police station reached the room. They left at 7.20 am. Later, more officers reached the room with Wasef in tow to carry out a search. They seized a pair of shorts and a bag containing 11 condoms from the room. Wasef's roommate, Sheikh Sahik, was present when the police seized the objects. Police also cordoned off an additional 50-m area where the rape took place and also found a condom in the place.

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