Six arrested in Odisha student's sexual assault near Durgapur college

A 23-year-old second-year MBBS student from Jaleswar in Odisha was allegedly sexually assaulted on the night of October 10 near a private medical college in Durgapur, Paschim Bardhaman district, police and officials said. Authorities have arrested six people in connection with the case, including a classmate who accompanied the student that evening, and are continuing forensic and digital examinations as they reconstruct the sequence of events.

According to the survivor’s statement recorded by investigators and medical personnel, she and a male classmate left campus for dinner on Friday night when they were intercepted by a group of men near the college. She said she was dragged into a nearby wooded area and assaulted. She was admitted to hospital the same night for treatment and examination. Doctors and police said the medicolegal examination found injuries consistent with sexual assault; formal forensic and laboratory reports are pending.

West Bengal police initially detained several men and subsequently expanded arrests to include the student’s classmate, bringing the total to six. Detained individuals include a former college security guard, a hospital worker, a civic...