KOLKATA: Barely two years after the infamous Park Street gang-rape , a similar incident has sent shockwaves across Kolkata, once again questioning its status as a so-called “safe” city for women.

The alleged gang-rape of a 27-year-old mother of two young children last Thursday in Akra, near Maheshtala, on the south-western fringes of the city, is chillingly reminiscent of the Park Street incident.

First, both happened in a moving car. The accused took turns raping the woman before finally chucking her out of a car — battered and bruised — by the side of a road. Secondly, the police have again been accused of dragging their feet, allowing the prime accused to get away and potentially giving the accused enough time to destroy and tamper with crucial evidence. Four arrests were made, but they came only on Saturday and Sunday.

According to the police complaint and statement given to doctors, the survivor — whose husband had left her some years ago — had planned a trip with her friend Raj. At about 6pm on Thursday, Raj hired a car and arrived at her home to her up. She says she suspected something wrong the moment she saw four other men in the car, and expressed her unwillingness to go. But Raj persuaded her to board the car, saying the others were his friends and that they would enjoy the joyride together.

The survivor says that she was offered soft drinks after some time. Drinking it is the last thing she remembers before she woke up to find herself being raped by Sheikh Rezaul alias Chhotu, the driver of the vehicle, at a deserted place. She says she regained consciousness, but was too weak to either resist or raise an alarm.

Chhotu then took her to Akra Station Road and pushed her out at a deserted stretch, just half a kilometer from her home, before speeding away. She lay there for about five minutes in a semi-conscious state, with serious bruises on her limbs, until she was taken home by some passersby. “When she came home, her salwar was tattered and she was semi-conscious. She had just the strength to utter some groans,” said the survivor’s sister-in-law. “We had no inkling of the nightmare she had been through.”

The way the police dealt with the case is perhaps even more shocking. When the survivor’s mother took her to Maheshtala police station, they were asked to go to the ESI Hospital first. No lady constable accompanied her, as is required. Nor did the cops start the case immediately. From ESI Hospital, they were further referred to Vidyasagar Hospital, where it was finally reported as a gang-rape.

The cops started a gang-rape case on August 1. The four arrests — of Bijoy Mondal, Taj Kureshi alias Taju, Sheikh Rejaul alias Chotu and Sukur Ali Molla — all happened on Saturday and Sunday. “The accused were all roaming free,” said Sahidul Islam, a resident of Akra Station Road and a neighbor of the survivor. “They were arrested only after the cops received instructions from higher-ups,” he alleged.

Senior police officers said any delay in rape cases could prove detrimental for the investigation, and a lot of evidence could potentially be destroyed. In fact, the bottles in which the survivor had been served soft drinks laced with drugs were recovered from the hired vehicle only on Sunday afternoon. “We have initiated a gang-rape case and four accused were arrested. We are looking for a few more accused,” said A Ravindran, the additional SP (West). The arrested four have been remanded in police custody till August 8.

The survivor’s elderly mother was inconsolable. “My daughter still cannot speak clearly. I am horrified to imagine what she went through. I am only thinking of my small grandchildren,” she told TOI, her voice choking up with tears.

Medical report confirms gang rape

KOLKATA: The medical report of the woman, who was allegedly thrown off a moving car on Akra Station Road in the south-west fringes of Kolkata on Thursday night, has confirmed gang rape.

Battered, bruised and delirious, the woman was admitted to Vidyasagar Hospital in Behala later on the same night. The police had sent her to ESI Hospital, which allegedly refused to admit her since she is not an ESI member and referred her to Vidyasagar Hospital instead. She was bleeding profusely when she was brought to the hospital and was sent immediately for a medical examination.

The test was conducted by Shubhra Chakraborty, the emergency medical officer, at 1.45am. The report says that the woman was "raped by some persons", after which she was thrown out of the car, as a result of which she suffered deep wounds all over her hands and legs.

For the next 48 hours, doctors tried their best to revive the woman. Though she has regained consciousness, it has been difficult for her to recognize her family and talk coherently. Despite her terrible state, she has managed to mumble bits and pieces of her ordeal to the police, who spent two days interrogating her in the gynaecological ward of the hospital. Doctors said she is still in a state of shock over the inhuman torture that she underwent and has been given heavy sedatives to soothe her nerves.

"She suffered deep wounds in her limbs and seems to have been forcefully thrown out of a moving vehicle. We have given her a heavy cover of antibiotics because we fear she could contract an infection. A team of doctors is monitoring her constantly. Since Sunday morning, her condition has stabilized and she has been talking to us," said gynaecologist Mihir Saha, who has been leading the team of doctors looking after the woman.

The survivor's mother has not left her bedside ever since she admitted her on Thursday night. "She was almost dead when I brought her. We lost so much time hospitalizing her... we thought she would die on the way. I have not left the hospital since. My daughter has no one but me. Her husband dumped her and she has two kids," cried her mother. "We are poor; it won't be easy for us to get justice. The doctors here are good; they are trying their best and the rest is God's grace," said the old woman.

The woman's brother, who has registered the FIR, has been bringing food for her from home. "Eid (which was on Tuesday) festivities were not quite over and the roads were crowded. In the midst of that, the men brazenly picked her up and raped her. Her salwar had been torn apart and she was bleeding profusely. It was so unbearable that she was nearly unconsciousness and yet, groaning in pain," said her sister-in-law.

