2025 Varanasi gang rape
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The 2025 Varanasi gang rape occurred between 29 March, 2025 and 3 April, 2025 when 23 people raped a 19-year-old girl in Varanasi.
Incident
[edit]On 29 March, the victim visited a friend at a hookah bar in the Pishach Mochan area.[1] While returning home, she met Raj Vishwakarama, and went to Lanka (a city district).[2] At a hookah bar there, Vishwakarama gave the victim a drugged drink.[1] Vishwakarama took the victim to a hotel, raped her while video recording the incident, then threatened to release the video as revenge porn.[3] Vishwakarama then brought 2 of his friends, Sameer Alam and Ayush Singh to the hotel, where they gang raped the victim[3] and took away the victim's phone to prevent her from contacting anyone.[3] On 30 March, Sameer drove the victim on his bike near a highway and raped her.[2] He then left her in the Nadesar district.[2] On 31 March the victim met a group of six men - Ayush, Sohail, Danish, Anmol, Sajid, and Zahir - who took her to the Continental Cafe in the Sigra district.[2] There, they gave the victim an intoxicating drink and all 6 of them took turns in raping her.[2] On 1 April the victim met a man named Sajid who was with another man.[2] Sajid and his accomplice took the victim to a hotel, where two or three other men were waiting.[2] They gang raped the victim at that hotel, then instructed her to leave.[2] Outside of the hotel, the victim encountered a man named Imran.[2] Imran forced the victim to consume an intoxicating drink, then raped her in the hotel.[2] On 2 April the victim met a man named Raj Khan, who took her to his home in Hukulganj district.[2] He compelled her to take a drug, after which he raped her.[2] The victim screamed during the assault, and several men took her to Assi Ghat where they left her alone and drugged.[2] On 3 April the victim met a man named Danish, who took her to his friend's home where three other men - Sohail, Shoaib, and another - drugged her then gang raped her.[2] This group then left her in the Chowkghat district.[2]
On 4 April, the victim's family filed a missing persons report.[3] Later that day, the victim returned home and told her family about the events.[2]
Investigation
[edit]On April 6, the police registered a first information report (FIR) under sections 70(1) (gang rape), 74 (outraging modesty), 123 (administering poison or harmful substance), 126(2) (obstructing movement), 127(2) (wrongful confinement), and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against 12 identified and 11 unidentified individuals on the complaint of the woman’s mother. According to DCP Chandrakant Meena, the family reported her missing only on April 4 after she left home on March 29 and did not return or contact any family member. He also said that the woman returned home on the same day and neither the woman nor the family made a complaint on that day.[4][5] The Uttar Pradesh police removed Meena from the case for alleged investigation lapses after Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed displeasure on the handling of the case during his 50th visit to his parliamentary constituency, Varanasi.[6]
The victim was tested Hepatitis B positive after she was admitted to a hospital in Varanasi due to stomach ache, weakness and loss of appetite. According to doctors, the infection could have been caused due to the injection of intoxicants by the accused during the crime.[6]
The police had arrested 14 accused individuals by April 16. On April 17, police commissioner Mohit Agarwal formed a special investigation team (SIT) after the families of accused individuals claimed there were inconsistencies in the woman’s complaint. In a memorandum submitted to the police, the families of accused alleged that the woman had demanded money from them for omitting certain names from her complaint. The police said that they also questioned why the woman did not reach out for help during the period of alleged assault and why she posted pictures and videos on social media that, according to them showed her "laughing and roaming around". According to police commissioner Mohit Agarwal, the woman neither mentioned rape nor a desire to return home when she was first located by authorities. The SIT is tasked with presenting a comprehensive report within 30 days. No arrest will be made of accused in the unidentified category until the submission of SIT report.[7][8]
Reactions
[edit]The mother of the victim requested an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demand punishment for the accused.[9]
Prime Minister Modi ordered officials to take strictest actions against those who did the crime.[10]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Jaiswal, Roshan (7 April 2025). "UP Class 12 student alleges gangrape by 23 men over 7 days". India Today. Archived from the original on 2025-04-09. Retrieved 2025-04-13.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Press Trust of India (8 April 2025). "19-year-old allegedly gang-raped by 23 people over six days, six arrested". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 13 April 2025.
- ^ a b c d Bajpai, Namita (7 April 2025). "19-year-old allegedly gang-raped by 23 people for a week in Varanasi; six arrested". The New Indian Express.
- ^ "Uttar Pradesh Shocker: 19-Year-Old Woman Gang-Raped Over 7 Days In Varanasi; 6 Arrested (VIDEO)". The Free Press Journal. Indo-Asian News Service. April 7, 2025. Archived from the original on April 7, 2025. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
- ^ Dikshit, Rajeev (April 7, 2025). "Varanasi horror: Teen claims gang-rape by 23 men over 7 days; 6 arrested". Times of India. Archived from the original on April 7, 2025. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
- ^ a b Bajpai, Namita (April 15, 2025). "Varanasi gang-rape: Senior IPS officer transferred for alleged investigation lapses". The New Indian Express. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
- ^ Dikshit, Rajeev (April 17, 2025). "SIT formed after gang rape accused kin term charges false, demand justice". Times of India. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
- ^ "Varanasi gang-rape accused's kin pick holes in survivor's claims". Rediff.com. April 18, 2025. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
- ^ Press Trust of India (11 April 2025). "Mother of Varanasi Gang-Rape Survivor Seeks Meeting with PM Modi for Justice". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 11 April 2025. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
- ^ Times News Network (12 April 2025). "At airport itself, PM Modi seeks report on 19-year-old's rape by 23 men". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 12 April 2025. Retrieved 13 April 2025.