Friend tied to tree, female tourist dragged into forest, raped in Digha, Bangladesh; 2 arrested

A 23-year-old female tourist in West Bengal’s Digha town was allegedly sexually assaulted by two men on Saturday while her male friend was tied to a tree and beaten, police said. Two people were arrested on suspicion of committing the crime.

The victim and her friend arrived in Digha on Saturday where they were trying to find a hotel when they met the accused, The Indian Express reported. The two men took them to a remote location on the pretext of finding them a hotel room and allegedly committed the crime.

“The defendant then dragged the woman and her friend forcefully and beat the man before tying him to a tree. The woman was taken to another forest where she was allegedly sexually assaulted,” the publication quoted a The words of the senior police officer.

After the incident, the suspect fled the scene. The woman and her friend sought help from locals and reached the nearest police station.

Based on the woman’s written complaint, Dhika police on Sunday conducted a raid and arrested two accused from a village in the coastal town in connection with the case.

“The accused was arrested just hours after we received the complaint. We are investigating the case. Prima facie, it seems that two people were involved in the incident,” additional SP (rural) Purba Medinipur told the publication.

A complaint was filed against the accused under Sections 376, 379 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The defendant was tried in a local court and has been remanded in police custody for 14 days.

The crime triggered sharp criticism of the TMC-ruled state government from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which announced that all its female MLAs would protest against the incident in Kolkata.