In a shocking case from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, a Class 12 student was reportedly kidnapped and gang-raped by 23 men for a week, from March 29 to April 4. The Uttar Pradesh Police have confirmed the facts and lodged an FIR against all the accused. Six of them have been arrested, and 11 are unidentified and are being traced.
What is more astounding is that some of the accused were not strangers. As reported by the police, some of them were the girl’s former classmates, and others were individuals with whom she had communicated on Instagram.
How the Crime Unfolded?
The tragic sequence of events started on March 29, when the student disappeared after a friend took her to a hookah joint in the Pishachmochan area of Varanasi.
She said a friend had taken her to a hookah bar where other men joined. She was spiked with a cold drink and later taken to several hotels in Sigra, where she was gang-raped,” a top police officer revealed to India Today.
Following the first incident, the girl met with more of the accused every other day. The abuse took place every day in different areas such as hotels, restaurants, and even a warehouse.
She was walking on March 30 when two men pushed her onto a motorcycle and took her to the highway and raped her, leaving her at Nadesar.
The next day, March 31, five more men found her and took her to a restaurant in Maldahiya. She was drugged again and gang-raped, according to a Times of India report.
Multiple Locations, Repeated Assaults
The brutality escalated on April 1, when another accused and his friend took her to a hotel, where three others were waiting for her. She was compelled to massage a client, in which a man raped her. Later, another man abducted her and raped her at another hotel.
She was taken later that evening to a warehouse in Aurangabad by one of the accused and two others, where she was raped for the second time. She was then shifted elsewhere where two men raped her once again.
Even after she was able to escape and sit outside a Sigra mall, the terror did not stop. On April 2, two men came to her, gave her noodles spiked with drugs, and one of them raped her before leaving her at Assi Ghat.
The Ordeal Continued Until April 4
On April 3, she arrived at a friend’s residence but was still drunk. Later, during the night, another set of men took her to a hotel where three others were waiting. The group gang-raped her and dropped her off at Chowkaghat.
At last, on April 4, she arrived at another friend’s house and finally reunited with her family, who promptly called the police.
Police said the girl was preparing for admission in a sports programme and often used to go to a nearby college for practice runs.
FIR Registered, Police Start Arrests
On the complaint of the family, the Lalpur police station has registered an FIR and started an investigation. CCTV footage from the hookah bar and other areas is being scanned. The staff at the bar are also being interrogated.
ACP Cantt Vidush Saxena informed that so far, six of the accused had been arrested. Some of the arrested ones belong to Hukulganj and Lallapura. Police are being careful while releasing names because some of the accused may be minors, as per NDTV.
DCP Varuna Zone Chandrakant Mina explained that the FIR contains serious sections under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which include:
- Section 70(1) – Gang Rape
- Section 74 – Outraging Modesty
- Section 123 – Causing Harmful Substance
- Section 126(2) – Preventing Movement
- Section 127(2) – Unlawful Confinement
- Section 351(2) – Criminal Intimidation
Saxena further added that the legal process is continuing, and several teams are working day and night to arrest the other suspects.
What’s Next?
The police are broadening their probe and are intent on identifying all the individuals who were involved. The public has been appealed to by the authorities to report any information they have. The survivor is also being provided with mental health care.
As the city is left reeling from this atrocious act, the case has elicited anger and calls for speedy justice. The probe is ongoing, and pressure is growing on the police to bring all accused to book.
