Bangladeshi woman claims raped in BSF camp; SI arrested

A sub-inspector of Border Security Force was arrested yesterday for allegedly raping a 30-year-old Bangladeshi woman inside a camp at Gaighata in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, Indian media reports said today.

The accused, Rameswar Kayal, has been remanded in police custody for two days after being produced in a court in Bongaon close to the border with Bangladesh, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

According to police sources, two women— the alleged victim and her friend both of whom come from Gopalganj in Bangladesh, had been trying to cross over the Jhaudandanga border close to Gaighata to enter Bangladesh illegally when BSF jawans of 158 Battalion detained them on Wednesday afternoon.

According to the FIR lodged by the victim at Gaighata police station, the BSF jawans took the duo to Kharer Math BSF camp where the accused started questioning the duo. Later, he allegedly raped her in the camp, she said.

"My friend and I are associated with the sari business in Gujarat. We were trying to sneak into Bangladesh with the help of an unauthorised agent who took Rs 30,000 from us. But we were caught by the jawans. Later in the night, when I was being interrogated alone, I was raped," she said in the FIR.

Police later arrested Kayal who has been booked under Section 376 (custodial rape by a police official) of the Indian Penal Code and remanded in police custody.

The woman's confidential statement has been recorded by the magistrate under Section 164 of CrPC, according to Samir Das, Chief Public Prosecutor of Bongaon Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate court.

Police later also arrested the two women, including the alleged victim, on charge of attempting to sneak into Bangladesh illegally.