By Dharmesh Prajapati

A 19-year-old first-year student of Delhi University has alleged that she was drugged and gang-raped repeatedly over four days at a rented room in Lucknow after being persuaded to deboard her train mid-journey, HT reported. The complainant, a political science student at Daulat Ram College from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, stated in her FIR that the ordeal began on May 15 when she was travelling back to Delhi after visiting her native village during the holidays.

According to the report, the survivor had boarded a train from Jafarabad railway station and, during the journey, messaged an old acquaintance identified as Shivam Yadav, 20. He met her at Charbagh railway station in Lucknow along with another man, Sunny Yadav, 19, and allegedly persuaded her to spend time in the city before he would drop her back at the station.

The two men then took her by cab to a rented room near a private hospital in the Sushant Golf City police station area. HT reported, citing the survivor’s complaint, that she was served cold coffee after which she felt drowsy. She alleged she was then sexually assaulted multiple times during the night of May 15 and 16.

The assault reportedly continued over the following two days. The report noted that on May 16 she was assaulted again by the second man and that a third unidentified person was subsequently brought to the room and also allegedly assaulted her. She claimed she was threatened with death if she resisted or disclosed what had happened.

According to the report, the accused took her back to Charbagh railway station on May 18, purchased a general ticket and left her on the platform. She boarded a train to Delhi and, during the journey, informed her family and contacted railway helpline 139, following which the Railway Protection Force was alerted.

Upon reaching Anand Vihar railway station in Delhi on May 19, railway staff received her and took her to Hedgewar Hospital for a medical examination. The medical legal case, as per the report, recorded an alleged history of sexual assault by three men in Lucknow on May 16 and May 17, multiple times, and noted that the complainant reported being intoxicated with an unknown substance. Medical samples were collected, sealed and taken into possession as evidence. Counselling support was arranged through a Sakhi One Stop Centre counsellor.

The report said railway police filed a zero FIR at Anand Vihar under sections 70(1) (gang rape), 123 (causing hurt by poison), 127(3) (wrongful confinement) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The case was transferred to Lucknow police on May 23, and a fresh FIR was registered at Sushant Golf City police station under the same sections. Delhi Police stated that the alleged crime scene falls under Lucknow’s jurisdiction, with papers forwarded for further investigation.

The complainant told police she could identify both named men as well as the third unidentified suspect if produced before her and sought strict legal action, the report added.

Additional DCP, south zone, Vasanth Kumar, told HT that preliminary investigations revealed both Shivam and Sunny hailed from the same village in Jaunpur as the survivor. He said one of them was a delivery boy while the other worked at a cafe, adding that five teams had been formed to arrest the accused and that their family members were being questioned to ascertain their possible hideouts.

As per the report, Shivam had worked at a coffee shop and had been acquainted with the survivor for four years, while Sunny worked as a delivery boy with an e-commerce company.