3 held for IIT-BHU sexual assault; 2 claim links to BJP’s IT cell

Two of the three accused, in their social media profiles, claimed they were associated with the BJP’s IT cell in Varanasi. While Kunal Pandey said he was a coordinator for the BJP IT cell’s Varanasi unit, Saksham Patel said he was a co-coordinator.

A senior office-bearer of the BJP media team for Kashi zone told The Indian Express: “Patel was a co-coordinator of the BJP IT cell, Varanasi unit, while Pandey was a coordinator for BJP IT cell Varanasi unit. They are not part of the new team that was formed after Diwali.”

UP BJP president Bhupendra Chaudhary did not respond to calls and messages for comments. State BJP IT cell chief Kameshwar Nath Mishra did not comment on whether the accused were associated with the party’s IT cell in Varanasi.

The police said the three were arrested Saturday night. “They have confessed to the crime. We have recovered mobile phones from the accused, and the motorcycle they used in the crime,” Varanasi DCP (Kashi zone) Ram Sevak Gautam told The Indian Express on Sunday.

A local court Sunday evening sent the three accused to judicial custody for 14 days.

Asked if the accused were associated with the BJP IT cell, DCP Gautam said, “We asked them about the crime. It doesn’t matter who is associated with whom. We are finding out if they have a criminal history and will invoke the Gangsters Act too.”

Questioned about the delay in arrest, he said, “Investigation and searches were on.”

Targeting the ruling party, Samajwadi Party president and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Akhilesh Yadav said in a post on X: “This is the new crop of BJP leaders, who have patronage from the senior leadership of the BJP. The so-called search for them was ongoing and they had to be finally arrested after solid evidence and the increasing anger. They are those BJP people who had crossed all limits while molesting a BHU student…”

“Every woman across the country is seeing how BJP is playing with women’s dignity and is protecting those accused of atrocities, harassment and rape. Women will not give even a single vote to the BJP in the upcoming elections. Women will be the reason for BJP’s defeat… The truth of the BJP is in front of the public today. The public will give its verdict by defeating the BJP in the upcoming elections and will do justice to women,” he said.

Responding to Akhilesh’s post, UP BJP spokesperson Aalok Awasthi wrote on X: “Akhilesh ji, the work to arrest these criminals was done under the zero tolerance policy of the BJP. They will get the punishment very soon. This is not the government of Akhilesh Yadav, where instead of getting him arrested, you shared the stage and gave ticket to rapist Gayatri Prajapati and went to the Supreme Court to save him. Do you remember or have you intentionally forgotten?”

The sexual assault on the IIT-BHU campus took place on the intervening night of November 1-2. According to the student, three unidentified men, who came on a motorcycle, forcibly kissed her and recorded a video of her after disrobing her. The next day, hundreds of students gathered in protest at the institute director’s office demanding better security on campus.

In her complaint to police on November 2, the student stated: “I am a resident of a hostel at IIT-BHU. On November 2, around 1.30 am, I left my hostel for a walk. I met a male friend… We were walking together when… a motorcycle with three men approached us from behind. They parked their motorcycle there and separated my friend and me.”

“They shut my mouth tightly and took me to a corner, kissed me forcibly, took off my clothes and recorded photos and videos. When I shouted for help, they threatened to kill me. They let me go after 10-15 minutes. When I ran towards my hostel, I heard the sound of the motorcycle. Then, I hid at the residence of a professor, who took me to the security officials,” she said.

The initial FIR was lodged against unidentified men under IPC sections 354-B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe) and 506 (criminal intimidation) and under the IT Act.

Days after the incident, the police said they added charges of gangrape to the FIR after the victim gave a fresh statement. IPC Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 507 (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication), and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman) were also added.

The Indian Express had reported that two days before the incident, another student faced a similar ordeal on the night of October 30, and the Proctor’s office was informed about it. The institute’s Dean had confirmed to The Indian Express that a complaint regarding the October 30 incident was received by the Proctor’s office and that action was being taken.

Several members of the IIT-BHU Students’ Parliament said there had been “a delay in taking action in the earlier incident”. Both incidents happened at a relatively isolated spot on the campus.