A Varanasi court has sent three accused in the Indian Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University gang rape case to judicial custody for 14 days. The three accused namely Kunal Pandey, Abhishek Chauhan and Saksham Patel, were produced before a Varanasi court on December 31, 2023 which sent them to judicial custody. The accused are residents of Varanasi.
The aforementioned individuals who allegedly gang raped a B.Tech student on the IIT-BHU campus were apprehended 60 days after the incident. In November 2023, an incident of molestation involving a student from IIT BHU in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh was brought to attention.
The victim claimed that three assailants on a motorcycle had forcibly disrobed her, recorded a video, and issued death threats. The incident had triggered a massive protest among students who called for improved security measures within the campus. Consecutively, the victim lodged a complaint against three unidentified individuals at the Lanka police station.
The woman in her complaint mentioned that she had gone out of her hostel with a friend when three men on a motorcycle forcibly took her to a corner and gagged her after separating her from her friend. The complaint further stated that the accused allegedly stripped the woman, made a video of her and took photos. It added that the accused allegedly let her go after 15 minutes and took her phone number.
Following, the charge of gang rape was added to the first information report (FIR). The FIR was lodged under Section 354 (assault or criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code at Lanka police station.
Meanwhile, the opposition leaders shared on social media the purported images of the three accused with several BJP leaders and launched an attack on the chief minister Yogi-Adityanath led state government.