LUCKNOW: Three persons have been arrested for stalking, abusing and trying to molest a 25-year-old resident doctor from Nagaland, working at AIIMS, Gorakhpur.
The incident took place on Sunday evening and came to light on Monday after a complaint was filed by the victim, following which a police team went to AIIMS and recorded her statement.
The victim is a third-year resident doctor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at AIIMS, Gorakhpur. While returning from a mall in the city, three men on a motorcycle followed her for 1.5 km.
Police sources said that the accused followed the victim from the mall and allegedly passed obscene remarks before engaging in further misconduct near the AIIMS entrance.
Police said the accused allegedly passed lewd remarks and verbally abused her as she walked back to AIIMS. The victim also alleged that the accused touched her inappropriately and made obscene gestures till she reached Gate number 2 of AIIMS.
Sources said the accused tried to expose their private parts by removing their clothes. When she raised an alarm, they fled the spot after issuing threats of dire consequences.
The victim reached her hostel and told her colleagues about the incident, who informed higher authorities. She lodged a formal police complaint the next day.
According to Gorakhpur SP Abhinav Tyagi, all three persons involved in the case were arrested and produced in court. Based on the victim's statements, FIR was registered at AIIMS police station under sections 74, 296 A, 352 and 351 C of BNS, which pertained to assault or use of criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty, engaging in obscene acts, criminal intimidation, and intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of peace.
Police said the accused, Suraj Gupta (22), Amrit Vishwakarma (21) and Aditya Rao (23), were traced through CCTV footage collected from the mall, AIIMS premises, and cameras installed along roads and buildings located between the two points.
Police said the men were residents of the neighbouring Deoria district. Suraj runs a fruit shop, while Amrit operates a general merchandise store in Deoria. They were arrested near their homes. Police also seized the vehicles allegedly used in the commission of the crime.
The National Federation of All India Resident Doctors (NAFORD) is currently fighting for the victim's security and legal battle.
Taking affront of the incident, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma demanded stringent actions against the perpetrators. "Racial discrimination and sexual harassment of women from the North-East should not just be a headline, sensationalised, forgotten and revived every time a fresh incident appears. The racial and sexual abuse of a resident doctor of AIIMS, Gorakhpur, in Uttar Pradesh, from Nagaland, is deeply shameful. Outraging a woman’s modesty is not what a civilised nation should tolerate. They are your sisters and daughters, too. Urge the authorities to take stringent actions against the perpetrators," he wrote in a post on X.