Three men have been accused of assaulting two young women in Sagardighi of West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, accusing them of being homosexual, and torturing and attempting to rape one of the victims. It has been alleged that they burnt one girl’s private parts/groin area with a hot rod because she was trying to fight the rape.

The accused have been identified as Sahebul Sheikh, Kadam and Saheb. Two of them happen to be the victim’s relatives.

According to a report by ETV Bharat, a woman of Belaipara in Sagardighi had slept at her neighbour’s house. Allegedly, three men of the village broke the door of their house and entered the house around 11 p.m. on October 25. They questioned why the two women were sleeping in the same room.

Although the two introduced themselves as friends, they were allegedly beaten up on suspicion of being lesbians. Not only that, apart from taking off one of the victim’s clothes, it has been alleged that they also tried to rape her.

When she resisted, the men allegedly stripped her naked and brunt her lower body with a hot iron rod. The victim’s stomach, groin area and thigh were burnt multiple times. When her friend tried to stop them, she was also beaten up. Somehow, the two managed to survive the ordeal.

It is reported that the main victim did not tell her family about the situation at night, but as her physical condition worsened, she told her family everything the next day. She was immediately admitted to Sagardighi Super Specialty Hospital. After a week of treatment there, she was discharged from the hospital.

“Both the girls grew up together. They enjoy each other’s company and support each other. The locals did not accept their friendship,” said the mother of one of the two girls.

Meanwhile one of the two victims said, “My friend and I meet up every day and tie bidis (local smoke), but I did not see her on 25 October. Later in the night, she called me up and asked me to visit her. She was suffering from immense pain in her abdomen.”

Later on, she decided to stay back at her friend’s place, which is when the attack took place.

On Sunday night, police from the Sagardighi police station apprehended an accused Shahbul Sheikh. On Monday, he was taken to the Jangipur Sub-Divisional Court, seeking 10-day police custody. Meanwhile, the local people are angry as the police have not made progress against the remaining accused who are absconding.