South Asia University rape case: Over 100 questioned, suspects yet to be identified

She received morphed obscene photographs of herself via WhatsApp and Telegram, created using her display picture.

Police said they have questioned over 100 individuals, including security guards, staff and students, in connection with the alleged gang rape of an 18-year-old student inside the South Asian University (SAU) campus in south Delhi. No arrests have been made so far.

The complainant, a first-year BTech student, told police she was sexually assaulted by four unidentified men, including a guard, inside the campus on Sunday evening. (Photo for representation)(HT_PRINT)

The complainant, a first-year BTech student, told police she was sexually assaulted by four unidentified men, including a guard, inside the campus on Sunday evening. An FIR was registered based on the victim’s statement on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, a senior police officer said, “There are allegations against the four men who are yet to be identified as well as the staff members who tried to suppress the matter. We have taken her statement and already called around 100 people. Around 67 of them are guards and security personnel, others are staffers and some are students.”

The individuals, the police said, were questioned about the victim and the incident.

“We have also checked more than 40 CCTVs till now,” the police officer further said, adding that they had found three spots where the victim was seen on the night of the alleged incident.

“We are yet to ascertain the sequence of events. Since the woman said a guard assaulted her, we have questioned all guards and are also taken their phones to verify their mobile location at the time of the incident,” the senior police officer said.

According to the FIR, the victim had been receiving threatening emails for two to three days prior to the incident from an unknown address, which also asked her to meet outside the hostel.

On Sunday, she received morphed obscene photographs of herself via WhatsApp and Telegram, created using her display picture. Accompanying messages threatened to circulate the images among students if she failed to appear at Gate Number 3. There, in an empty room near the convocation centre, the complaint said, a guard, a middle-aged man, and two younger men sexually assaulted her. The alleged assailants fled when they heard people exiting the nearby mess.

The FIR also says the university’s administration was dismissive of her account and prevented her from contacting her mother or outsiders. A PCR call was eventually made by the victim’s friend on Monday afternoon.

On Wednesday, an investigator also said they are also probing the alleged emails and messages sent to the woman by an unknown sender. “We don’t know the sender yet but we have found that the email was sent by someone from inside the college. We will soon identify the culprit.”