NIGHTMARE ON PATNA’S ST

She was a pretty girl studying in Class IX. The sight of Prashant Jha, a ‘ cute’ senior in Class XI of the same Patna school, would set her heart aflutter. His mobike was an object of envy, and when he asked her out, she would be happy to skip classes for long drives riding pillion.

Two years since she first saw him in 2010, their relationship blossomed. Priya was sure she and Prashant ( all names changed) were made for each other. With marriage in mind, she paid no attention to the many rumours of Prashant’s affairs.

Prashant had other ideas. In June 2012, when his parents decided to send him to Delhi for higher studies, he planned to dump her. But not before satisfying his friends’ requests, of ‘ sharing’ his girlfriend with them. On June 14, he asked Priya to his friend Sushant’s home in Rambha Apartments in Rajvanshinagar, Patna.

There, as the 17- year- old fought and pleaded, Prashant laughed away as he invited his friends Rahul Lamba and Rahul alias Ranvijay to strip her naked. They took turns to rape her and filmed the act on a cellphone. Priya says she knew the other rapists— both school seniors— whose sexual innuen- dos she had ignored in the past as they were Prashant’s buddies.

The boys shot a 43- minute graphic video, which was uploaded from a cyber café in late June. Arman, 15, Prashant’s junior, was the first to get the link. He promptly demanded sexual favours from Priya. A week later, Lamba summoned Priya to a cyber café, showed her the clip, and promised to destroy it if she visited the apartment once again. He told her “Sushant bhaiya” would inform her parents and the police if she did not turn up. Inevitably, when she did visit the flat, Lamba and 26- year- old Sushant raped her again. Emboldened, they called her