One of the entrances to Poddar Court. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

A pavement-dweller was allegedly raped by four youths in a highrise near the Lalbazar police headquarters on Dashami night.

On hearing the screams of the 25-year-old woman, a security guard in an adjacent building alerted a policeman patrolling the area. Officers from Bowbazar police station said they caught the four with the woman in an empty room on the fourth floor of Poddar Court.

After a medical test, the woman was sent to the state-run Liluah Home for Destitute Women. The four accused, identified as Naushad, Vinod, Baidyanath and Nizam, were produced in court and remanded in police custody till October 29.

According to police, the woman, who lived on Brabourne Road, was loitering in front of Tea Board around 10.30pm on Sunday. “The four, who were out pandal-hopping, approached the woman and showed her a packet of potato chips. They promised to give her the packet if she walked with them for 10 minutes,” said an officer of Bowbazar police station.

The woman started walking with the four. They walked along Lalbazar Street, past the police headquarters, to Poddar Court. “The group entered the building and the men started searching for an empty room. They found one on the fourth floor and entered it. The woman was confined in the room for more than an hour,” added the officer.

The security guard of a private bank next door heard the woman’s screams through an open window of the room. He left his enclosure and alerted the patrolling policeman.

The police claimed that several men were on duty in the area and they immediately swung into action. They could not explain why the officers did not stop the four accused from walking into the building with a pavement-dweller.

On Ashtami in 2004, two Polish women were molested on a crowded road near Gariahat police station. The culprits managed to run away. They were arrested two days later.