One of the men accused of the gang-rape of a woman at a friend’s birthday party in Regent Park last week was arrested at Burdwan station late on Tuesday.

Police said Chandan Malik, who had taken the woman to a friend’s house where the incident allegedly occurred, had fled to Bihar after the incident.

“Chandan Malik was arrested at Burdwan station late on Tuesday night. He has been charged with gang-rape. More details will be available only after we interrogate him in our custody,” said deputy commissioner (south-west division) Rahul De.

The alleged incident took place on September 5 and was reported to Haridev-
pur police station on September 6.

The woman, a 20-year-old college student who also works part-time, told the police that Malik and his friend raped her at the party.

“We are probing the allegations. Medical reports prima facie suggest the woman was subjected to sexual violence. We are investigating all the allegations,” said a police officer involved in the probe.

The other accused, in whose house the alleged assault took place, is still absconding. Both men have been charged with gang-rape, wrongful restraint, stalking, and causing grievous hurt.

The woman’s statement has been recorded before a magistrate earlier this
week.

Malik was produced in the Alipore court on Wednesday and remanded in police custody till September 19.

Sources said Malik claimed the woman had come to the party on her own. A senior officer said: “Even if a woman attends a party of her own accord, that does not give anyone the right to inflict torture or violence.”

Two-and-a-half months ago, a college student accused a former student and two students of South Calcutta Law College of gang-rape. All three, along with a security guard arrested later, are in jail custody.

In another case, a student of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta was accused of rape by a woman who said the incident took place in a campus hostel. However, her failure to appear before a magistrate to record her statement weakened the case. The accused has since been granted bail.