Three youth belonging to the Muslim community abducted a college student, gang-raped her, and after she became unconscious, dropped her near a local school and fled. The appalling incident took place in Sitalkuchi in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district. Later, based on the complaint of the victim, Sitalkuchi police had arrested Jamir Miyan as one of the accused in this case. But the other two accused, namely Firoz Miyan and Russell Miyan were on the loose.

It has been learned that the victim belongs to the Rajbanshi community and is a resident of the Bamandaka area of Sitalkuchi. On Tuesday, December 21, she was on her way to the college; she met Jamir and his friend. Jamir was known to the victim, so when they offered her a lift to her college, she readily accepted the same. However, instead of dropping her at the college, Jamir took her to his aunt’s place located in Bamandaka. Russell Miyan was already present in the house when they entered the house with the college student. There, the three friends raped the victim.

While the main rape accused, Jamir Miyan committed the horrific crime, Firoz Miyan and Russell Miyan recorded the horrific incident and threatened to upload the video on social media if she told anyone about it. They forced her to take contraceptives and after she lost consciousness, dropped her near the Sitalkuchi Girls School. Though the main accused was arrested shortly after the victim’s complaint, the police failed to trace the other two initially.

Remarkably, irrespective of political differences, student wings of the BJP, CPI-M, and TMC exerted pressure on the police to find out the other two accused at the earliest and kept submitting memorandum demanding prompt action in the case. The Vishwa Rajabanshi Unnayan Manch had also sent memorandums to the police and staged demonstrations demanding immediate arrest of the two absconders. A protest march was taken out by students and professors as well.

Till Monday, December 27, 12 memorandums had been presented to the police seeking the arrest of Russell Miyan and Firoz Miyan. There was a massive uproar in Sitalkuchi through the past one week after locals learned of this shocking incident. Several political leaders and social associations were regularly carrying out rallies and seeking updates from the police on the arrest of the fugitives.

The two were finally nabbed by the police from Siliguri, West Bengal on December 27. The Officer-In-Charge of Sitalkuchi Police Station has also confirmed that all the three criminals accused in the gang-rape case have been detained. Members of the Trinamool SC-ST Sangha in Mathabhanga have submitted petitions for not providing any legal aid to the accused to the police as well as to the Mathabhanga Bar Association. BJP’s Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad has sent a written request to Amit Sharma, the Additional Superintendent of Police, Mathabhanga, seeking exemplary punishment for the gang-rape accused.

Sharma had informed the media that all three accused in this case were set to be produced at the Mathabhanga court on Tuesday, December 28, and the police would appeal for taking them in police remand for further interrogation. They are yet to decide on the IPC sections under which Jamir Miyan, Firoze Miyan, and Russell Miyan will be booked. The entire district is looking forward to strict punishment for the rape-accused while many believe that they should be awarded the death penalty.