After RG Kar horror, 23-year-old MBBS student gang-raped near private college in West Bengal

A student was gang-raped near a private medical college in Durgapur, West Bengal on Friday night, reports said. The second-year MBBS student is from Jaleswar town of Odisha and had been studying at IQ City Medical College in Durgapur's Shivapur area. Officials said she had stepped out with a male friend when some men accosted them near the college gate, took the woman to a wooded area, and gang-raped her. The 23-year-old student's father alleged that her friend fled, and the family suspects that he was involved in the crime.

What are police and authorities doing?

The survivor's family has filed a complaint with the police, alleging that her friend "misled her and took her to a vacant place under false pretexts." The student's father said the attackers also snatched her mobile phone and stole Rs 5,000 from her. She has been admitted to a hospital in Durgapur, where her condition is said to be critical. Police said they have launched an investigation and recorded the survivor's statement, adding they are interrogating others, including her friend. Meanwhile, West Bengal's health department has sought a report from the college, news agency PTI reported.

Have similar cases taken place recently?

The incident comes after a series of horrifying rape cases have been reported from West Bengal over the past year. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government has been under fire over women's safety in the state. In July this year, a law student was allegedly gang-raped on the campus of South Calcutta Law College in state capital Kolkata. A former student and several others were arrested in the case. Last year, the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital had led to protests across the country.