Friend Arrested in Durgapur Medical Student Assault Case as Police Investigation Reveals Single Attacker

Police officials have determined that the medical student in Durgapur was sexually assaulted by a single individual rather than being gang-raped as initially suspected.

The friend of the medical student who was sexually assaulted near a private medical college in West Bengal's Durgapur has been taken into custody by authorities. This arrest brings the total number of individuals detained in connection with this case to six.

According to earlier reports by NDTV, the victim, a second-year MBBS student from Odisha studying in West Bengal, had left the IQ City Medical College in Durgapur's Shivapur area with her friend on October 10. They were subsequently confronted by several individuals. The woman was allegedly taken to a wooded area where the sexual assault occurred.

The survivor's father filed a police complaint specifically naming the friend, stating that he had "misled her and took her to a vacant place under false pretexts."

Prior to the friend's arrest on Tuesday, Asansol-Durgapur Commissioner of Police Sunil Kumar Choudhary had announced that five individuals had been apprehended. Their presence at the crime scene had been confirmed, and the mobile phone stolen from the survivor had been recovered.

Commissioner Choudhary revealed that based on their investigation, the police determined the survivor was sexually assaulted by only one person.

"According to the technical and scientific evidence collected, along with the woman's statement, we have established that physical sexual assault was committed by a single accused. The involvement of all five accused is still under investigation," he stated.

The police commissioner emphasized twice during his statement that the friend's "role was not beyond doubt."

"The woman's friend, who was also present at the scene... his role is also not beyond doubt. We are thoroughly investigating his involvement. We have questioned him multiple times... His examination continues. I want to emphasize that his role is also not beyond doubt," the commissioner reiterated.

Later that evening, police confirmed the friend's arrest. Officials revealed that the woman and her friend had gone out for dinner that night. "The friend had been taken to the crime scene and interrogated numerous times before authorities made the arrest," an official explained.