'They dragged me, threatened to call more men': Durgapur gang-rape survivor recounts horror

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The Durgapur gang-rape survivor has recounted the horror she endured on the night she was raped, saying in her statement that the accused threatened to call more men to rape her if she tried to scream.

According to a report by India Today, the survivor said during treatment, “We noticed that they were leaving their vehicle and coming towards us. We started running towards the forest. Then those three people came running after us, caught me, and dragged me into the forest.”

“They grabbed me from behind, took my phone and told me to call my friend. When he didn’t come, they forced me to lie down. When I screamed, they said if I made noise, they would call more men and they would do it too. So just let me do it,” the survivor said.

The survivor is a 23-year-old from Odisha’s Jaleswar. She is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in West Bengal. The victim’s father has expressed fear for his daughter’s safety and said he wants her to stay in Odisha and continue her education there.

Speaking in response, the girl’s father said, “My daughter was sexually assaulted between 8 pm and 9 pm on Friday. Yet the Chief Minister falsely suggested that the incident took place past midnight.”

He also criticised Mamata Banerjee’s alleged comment suggesting that women should be cautious about venturing out at night. “Despite being a woman herself, she made an insensitive remark suggesting women should not be out at night,” The Times of India quoted him as saying.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday sparked controversy when she reacted to the incident and said that girls should not be allowed to go out of the college campus at night and have a responsibility to protect themselves.

Later, she said that the media had distorted her words and that she was merely answering a question. Several BJP leaders, including Locket Chatterjee, meanwhile, alleged that police stopped them from meeting the victim at the hospital and that the emergency ward where she was being treated was closed off with police personnel inside.