Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 9: A 17-year old girl from Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh who moved to Kanpur and joined a prominent coaching institute to prepare for the medical entrance examination NEET, was allegedly held hostage, blackmailed and raped for over six months by two teachers of the institute.
The police said both the teachers have been arrested and were produced in the court on Saturday.
The police said the ordeal for the minor student had begun in December 2022, when she was putting up at a city hostel. Assistant Commissioner of Police (Kalyanpur) Abhishek Pandey said the case was registered on Friday after she gathered the courage to approach the Kalyanpur police station.
Both teachers – 32 year old Sahil Siddiqui, who taught biology, and 39 year old Vikas Porwal, who taught chemistry — have been arrested and charged with offences of rape, wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation and under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act.
In her complaint, the survivor told police that in December 2022, Siddiqui invited her to his flat in Kalyanpur’s Makdi-Khera area for a New Year’s party which he said was meant for all students and that other students would be there as well. When the girl reached the flat, however, she realised that she was alone with only Siddiqui there. She alleged that Siddique drugged her by lacing her soft drink with sedatives and raped her while also recording the episode on video.
According to the complaint, Siddiqui allegedly held her hostage in his flat for over six months, during which he repeatedly raped her and also threatened to share the video online if she spoke to anyone about it.
The survivor told the police that Siddiqui threatened to make the video public and kill her family and raped her on several other occasions as well when he held her as hostage at his flat and later coerced her to attend parties there. It was during one such party that she was raped by her 39-year-old chemistry teacher, Vikas Porwal as well.
The student said she had gone home to meet her parents around Holi and Siddiqui had called her and asked her to come back, threatening to harm her family if she did not comply. She said in the FIR that she could not muster the courage to seek police help as she was afraid that it might land her family in danger. Six months later, the girl’s mother arrived in Kanpur and took her along.
Initially, the girl was hesitant to approach the police but she made up her mind to take the step when she came across a video showing Siddiqui sexually harassing another coaching student. The video had gone viral recently and he was released on bail. An official said this made the student overcome her fear of him and file a police complaint on Thursday.
A first information report (FIR) was registered on Friday and both Siddiqui and Porwal were arrested the same night. Assistant Commissioner of Police Abhishek Pandey said, “The student told us she was raped by the accused on separate occasions. A case has been registered and the two men have been arrested and are being questioned. The student was a minor at the time and has requested us not to share too many details.”
The case was registered against the two teachers under Indian Penal Code sections 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with intent to commit an offence), 376(2)(n) (commits rape repeatedly on the same woman), 344 (wrongful confinement for 10 or more days) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and the POCSO Act, an official said.