Two accused of raping DU student surrender before Lucknow court

Lucknow: Two named accused in the alleged gang rape of a 19-year-old Delhi University first-year student from Jaunpur surrendered before a court here on Saturday, days after Lucknow Police launched a search and constituted multiple teams to arrest them following the registration of an FIR that was transferred from Delhi under the Zero FIR mechanism.

The case surfaced after the survivor alleged that she was drugged, wrongfully confined and repeatedly gang-raped by three men over four days in a rented room in the Sushant Golf City area of Lucknow. The two named accused, identified as Shivam Yadav (20) and Sunny Yadav (19), are residents of the survivor’s native village in Jaunpur and were known to her.

Police had earlier formed several teams to track down the accused and conducted raids at their possible hideouts.

A senior police officer privy to probe said that they will soon take remand of the accused.

“We want recovery of clothes and other exhibits used in the crime,” he said.

Family members and associates of the accused were also questioned during the search operation. Before police could arrest them, both accused surrendered before the court.

According to the FIR, the student had left her village in Jaunpur for Delhi on May 15 after boarding a train from Jafarabad railway station. During the journey, she contacted Shivam Yadav, an acquaintance of nearly four years. She alleged that Shivam, along with Sunny, met her at Charbagh railway station in Lucknow and persuaded her to break her journey and stay in the city.

The complainant alleged that she was taken to a rented room near a private hospital in the Sushant Golf City area, where she was offered cold coffee. Soon after consuming it, she began feeling drowsy and disoriented. She has alleged that she was then sexually assaulted repeatedly by the two accused and later by a third unidentified man who was brought to the room.

The survivor further alleged that she was threatened with death if she resisted or disclosed the assaults. According to her statement, she was finally taken back to Charbagh railway station on May 18, given a general ticket and left on the platform. She subsequently boarded a train to Delhi, informed her family and contacted Railway helpline 139.

Upon reaching Delhi on May 19, she was assisted by railway authorities and taken for medical examination. Based on her complaint, Delhi Railway Police registered a Zero FIR under BNS sections relating to gang rape, administering an intoxicating substance, wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation before transferring the case to Lucknow Police. Investigators are now probing the allegations and searching for the third unidentified accused.

The preliminary medical examination conducted after the assault had revealed no visible external injuries on the survivor’s private parts and no signs indicating forcible sexual assault by multiple persons. The test was conducted in Delhi and TOI got exclusive access to the medical documents.

The medical report, prepared after the survivor approached authorities at Anand Vihar Railway Police and lodged a Zero FIR, records the absence of external injury marks. However, medico-legal experts told TOI that the medical examination does not conclusively rule out sexual assault.

The medical examination was conducted shortly after the complainant reached Delhi on May 19 and informed Railway authorities about the alleged assault. Biological swab samples collected during the medical procedure have been preserved and sent for forensic examination, with the final medical opinion expected only after the Forensic Science Laboratory submits its report.