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The arrest comes almost two months after the incident was reported.
IIT-BHU Gang Rape: The police have arrested three men in connection with the alleged gang rape of a woman inside the IIT-BHU campus in Varanasi, officials said on Sunday. The arrest comes almost two months after the incident was reported. The three men have been identified as Kunal Pandey, Anand alias Abhishek Chauhan, and Saksham Patel.
Soon after the arrests were made, the opposition parties hit out at the BJP government alleging that the accused persons were linked to the ruling party while Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated group demanded that police file a charge sheet in the case at the earliest and take action against those who protected the accused for two months.
The alleged incident took place on the night of November 1 following which hundreds of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) students held a protest on the campus and demanded that the entry of outsiders be banned.
According to the complainant, she had gone out of her hostel with a friend on the night of November 1. They were near the Karman Baba temple when three men came there on a motorcycle, forcibly took her to a corner, and gagged her after separating her from her friend. The accused then allegedly stripped the woman, made a video of her, and clicked photos. They let her go after about 15 minutes and took her phone number.
An FIR was registered based on the complaint under Section 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under provisions of the Information Technology Act at Lanka police station. Subsequently, the charge of gang rape was added to the FIR, police said.
Three people, Kunal Pandey, Anand alias Abhishek Chauhan, and Saksham Patel have been arrested in the case, said Shivakant Mishra, Station House Officer, Lanka police station.
Opposition parties targeted the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government over the law and order situation in the state and alleged that those arrested in the case have links with the ruling BJP.
“For the BJP, ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ is just a slogan. I had said at that time that BJP people are involved in this matter,” Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai said in a post on X.
IIT BHU की छात्रा से सामूहिक दुष्कर्म करने वाले और कोई नहीं बल्की भाजपा के कुणाल पांडेय महानगर IT के संयोजक और सक्षम पटेल जो दिलीप पटेल (काशी प्रांत) के अध्यक्ष है उनका PA है ।
यही है भाजपा का दुष्कर्मी चेहरा ।
शर्मनाक pic.twitter.com/JxDVtBuEK5
— Ajay Rai🇮🇳 (@kashikirai) December 31, 2023
“The person who gang-raped an IIT BHU student is none other than BJP’s Kunal Pandey, convener of Mahanagar IT cell, and Saksham Patel, who is the PA of Dilip Patel (Kashi zone president of the BJP). This is the evil face of BJP. Shameful,” the Congress leader said in another post.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said in a post on X that those arrested for gang-raping the woman student are part of a new crop of BJP workers thriving under the patronage of senior leaders. The government had to get them arrested due to the solid evidence in the case and the growing public anger, he said.
“Every woman across the country is seeing how the BJP is playing with women’s dignity and protecting those accused of atrocities, harassment and rape. Women will not give even a single vote to the BJP in the upcoming elections. Women will be the reason for the BJP’s defeat.
“The truth of the BJP is before the public today. The public will give its verdict by defeating the BJP in the upcoming elections and do justice to women,” he said.
ये हैं भाजपा के दिग्गज नेताओं की छत्रछाया में सरेआम पनपते और घूमते भाजपाइयों की वो नयी फसल, जिनकी ‘तथाकथित ज़ीरो टॉलरेंस सरकार’ में दिखावटी तलाश जारी थी लेकिन पुख़्ता सबूतों और जनता के बीच बढ़ते गुस्से के दबाव में भाजपा सरकार को आख़िरकार इन दुष्कर्मियों को गिरफ़्तार करना ही… pic.twitter.com/VgVJFZBPUO
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) December 31, 2023
The Samajwadi Party, in a post on X, said sisters and daughters are unsafe in the state and BJP people are the only threat.
अपराधियों को संरक्षण देते हैं मुख्यमंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ। pic.twitter.com/ebxiebNvS9
— Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) December 31, 2023
The party demanded the strictest punishment for the culprits.
In a statement, ABVP state media coordinator Abhinav Mishra demanded that police file a charge-sheet in the case at the earliest and also take action against those who protected the accused for two months.
The ABVP also called on the BHU administration to take appropriate steps to ensure the safety of everyone on the campus.
(With PTI inputs)
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