Woman gang-raped, brutalised with iron rod in West Bengal

BERHAMPORE: A woman was allegedly raped by two men in West Bengal and brutalised with an iron rod, the police have said.

According to the police, the victim, 19 or 20 years old, was found lying under a bridge in a village in south Dinajpur for nearly 18 hours. She underwent two surgeries at Malda Medical College and Hospital.

A passerby said he found the woman in an unconscious state in the afternoon of February 18.

South Dinajpur superintendent of police Prasun Banerjee said they found involvement of two people in the crime and have arrested them.

The woman, a Dehaband resident, was allegedly attacked on February 17 when she was returning from a Shivratri fair.

“The woman told me (that) Ram Prabesh Sharma, a resident of Dehaband village, and some other persons abducted her and gang-raped her in a secluded place. It seems after raping the girl the accused assaulted her with some weapon,” said the passer-by. Medical superintendent Amit Kumar Dawn said the girl was brutally assaulted. “A team of specialist doctors have conducted surgeries and she is responding well.”

“We want stern punishment for the culprits. We have come to know that the victim has no relatives and is an orphan. We will try to provide her with all necessary support,” said Chirashree Dasgupta, an activist from Malda district.

CPI-M district secretary Narayan Biswas said the CM was supposed to visit South Dinajpur on February 21, and alleged that the administration tried to suppress the incident.