East Bengal footballer among four held for raping minor

Kolkata: Two footballers from two famous city-based clubs have been arrested for allegedly gang raping a 14-year-old girl in West Bengal’s North 24-Parganas district, police said Wednesday.

“Following a complaint of gang rape of a minor in which four people have been accused, we have arrested two people who play for two different football clubs,” an official of Dum Dum police station said.

The minor was allegedly lured by the accused to their accommodation Monday afternoon, raped and dumped outside.

The Times of India reports that Jaspreet Singh, a midfielder with East Bengal, one of this club mates and another player from Prayag United live in a rented apartment at the upscale Diamond City North. Their cook had taken the victim to their apartment on the pretext of employing her to clean the apartment. The paper quotes:

East Bengal club sources said they would try to bail out Jaspreet, who was present at Salt Lake Stadium during the I-league match against Pune FC on Monday afternoon.

“The footballers are required to report to the stadium at least two hours prior to the scheduled time (in this case, 2.30 pm). Hence, he couldn’t have been present at his residence at the same time,” a club official said. Prayag officials claimed they were aware of the footballer’s whereabouts and he will surrender soon.

The victim’s father lodged a complaint late Tuesday night following which the footballers were arrested.

The police were searching for the other two accused.

IANS