VARANASI: An IIT BHU student was brutally gang-raped inside the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) campus on November 1. The Varanasi Lanka Police have arrested three accused—Kunal Pandey, Anand alias Abhishek Chauhan and Saksham Patel—from Varanasi in connection with the heinous crime.

The incident occurred when the victim had stepped out of her hostel accompanied by a friend. The accused, riding a bike spotted the girl and subjected her to harassment. Subsequently, they forcibly silenced her, tore her clothes and filmed the distressing ordeal on their phones. After roughly 15 minutes, they released her but not before coercing her into giving her phone number. They warned her against disclosing the incident threatening her life.

The girl lodged a formal complaint at the police station the following day detailing the horrific gang rape. Frustrated by the delay in arresting the culprits, students staged a massive protest within the campus accusing the police of shielding the accused. The arrest occurred two months after the incident.