Kolkata, Oct 14 (IANS) The Durgapur gang-rape victim will record her statement before a judicial magistrate under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) later in the day, said the police. The confidential statement will be taken at Durgapur Sub-divisional Court.

The victim’s father said on Monday that they are planning to take their daughter back to Odisha once she records her statement. However, it is not clear whether the medical student will return to Odisha later in the day or on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the police took the five accused to the forest area for reconstruction of the crime. Sources said the clothes worn by the accused on that day were seized by the police. The clothes have been sent for forensic examination. It was learnt that the medico-legal test of the accused will be held either later in the day or on Wednesday.

According to police sources, one of the five arrested has confessed to the rape during interrogation. However, the police are waiting for the DNA test report to confirm this, the source said. According to the law, if more than one person is present at the scene of the crime, a case of gang-rape is registered.

Last Friday, the second-year medical student from Odisha was gang-raped by five persons in a forest area outside a private medical college and hospital in West Burdwan district’s Durgapur.

Based on the complaint lodged by the victim, the police have arrested all five accused persons in the case. They are currently in police custody. In addition, a male friend of the victim is also detained.

According to police sources, he has been cooperating in the investigation. Meanwhile, the police also took the detained male friend to the crime scene to corroborate the claims made by the accused during the reconstruction of the crime. The entire process is being videographed. The police also went to the house of two of the arrested accused persons for investigative purposes.

The incident has created a sensation in the political circles of the state, with the Opposition BJP targeting the Mamata Banerjee government for failing to provide security to women. BJP leaders also criticised Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee after she said that women should not be allowed to go out at night, while speaking on the incident.

–IANS

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