Kolkata: Girl stripped, abused, friend beaten up in New Town

KOLKATA: A 15-year-old girl, who was out for a cycle ride with a teenaged friend on a New Town road behind the boundary wall of Eco Park on Monday evening, was allegedly assaulted, dragged behind a desolate cement factory, stripped, photographed and sexually assaulted by three men before she could manage to flee with her injured friend. The accused also assaulted the friend and snatched away his mobile.
Acting on the girl's complaint, the three accused were arrested on Tuesday under multiple sections of IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. They have been sent to police custody. Multiple calls to senior officers of Bidhannagar Police, including Bidhannagar DC (Headquarters) Debasmita Das and DC (New Town) Bishop Sarkar, went unanswered.

Though police didn't reveal the names of the arrested till late on Wednesday, the survivor gave three names, which she heard them call each other. Sources said one of the accused drove a police jeep in New Town a few years ago, while the other two did odd jobs. Police did not confirm the details.
According to the complaint lodged by the Class X student, who lives in a standalone apartment at Hatiara, she had set out for a bicycle ride with her friend and had gone to a place near Eco Park's Gate 6, close to the Deer Park. Around 5.30pm, the three men, who were earlier sitting near a field, started stalking the two teenagers in the relatively isolated road and made lewd comments at the girl. When the friend protested, the men pounced on him, snatched away their bicycle and mobiles and assaulted him. "One of the men beat up my friend and took him away somewhere, while the others dragged me to a large bush near a desolate area behind a cement factory," the girl wrote in the complaint. She told police the accused stripped her and sexually abused her while filming it on their cellphones.
The men were about to inflict more torture on her but she somehow managed to run away and started calling out to her friend, who was lying at a distance. The two kept running from the area till they came across a man and sought his help. The man lent the girl his phone and she called the friend's mother. The woman arrived at the spot and took them to Eco Park police station early on Tuesday. Based on the description and names provided by the girl, police checked CCTV footage of the area and activated their sources and arrested the three by Tuesday evening.
The girl's lawyer, Bangshidhar Pramanik, demanded strictest punishment for the trio at a Barasat court.
The area where the incident took place is behind the boundary walls of Eco Park and is visited by people of various ages for walks and cycle rides in the mornings and evenings. Young boys also play cricket and football in the fields around and many learn how to ride cycles and bikes there.