Immediately upon landing in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on April, 11received a detailed briefing from the Police Commissioner, Divisional Commissioner, and District Magistrate of Varanasi regarding the recent criminal rape incident in the city. He instructed them to take the strictest possible action against the culprits and to implement appropriate measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
A 19-year-old woman in Varanasi reported to police on April 7, 2025, that she was allegedly gang-raped by 23 men over six days. 1 According to the police, the accused individuals are alleged to have drugged her and transported her to multiple hotels where the assaults occurred. 2 Authorities have stated that six of the accused have been taken into custody. The alleged crime and the perceived silence from key leaders like Akhilesh Yadav have begun to draw criticism and public attention.
19 yr old girl was r*ped by 23 individuals including Sohail, Danish, Anmol, Sajid, Zahir, Raj, Imran, Shoaib, Anmol, Ayaan, Sameer, Zaib.
Akhilesh Yadav is maintaining pin drop silence.
pic.twitter.com/F5fI3wIiHM— News Algebra (@NewsAlgebraIND) April 9, 2025
Additional Commissioner of Police for the Cantonment area, Vidush Saxena, stated that the 19-year-old woman left her home with some young youth on March 29. Her family subsequently filed a missing person report on April 4 when she did not return. According to Saxena, when police located and rescued the woman, she did not initially disclose the alleged rape.
However, on April 6, the survivor’s family filed a formal complaint alleging that she had been gang-raped. “The woman informed the police that, between March 29 and April 4, the accused allegedly took her to multiple hotels and hookah bars where she was gang-raped,” the police officer stated. Authorities have also booked 11 unidentified individuals in connection with the case. Of the 12 named accused, six were arrested on April 6, 2025, and police are currently working to apprehend the remaining individuals.
In her complaint, the woman’s mother stated that her daughter went to a friend’s house on March 29. “On her way back home, she encountered a boy named Raj, who took her to his cafe in Lanka. There, Raj and another friend committed ‘bad acts’ with her.”
The complaint further detailed, “The following day, my daughter met a boy named Sameer, who was with a friend on a motorcycle. Sameer took her on the bike to a highway, where he committed a ‘bad act’ with her on the motorcycle itself and then left her at Nadesar.”
The mother also alleged, “On March 31, a boy named Ayush, along with five other friends identified as Sohail, Danish, Anmol, Sajid, and Zahir, took her to Continental Cafe in Sigra. They made her drink intoxicants and then raped her one after another. On April 1, a boy named Sajid, accompanied by a friend, took her to a hotel where two or three other individuals were present.”
The mother’s complaint continued, alleging, “There, a man raped her and then forced her to leave. As she was departing, she encountered a boy named Imran on the way, who also raped her in a hotel after giving her intoxicants to drink. Later, when my daughter screamed, he abandoned her outside the hotel.” She further stated, “On April 2, a boy named Raj Khan took her to the rooftop of his residence in Hukulganj and attempted to rape her after drugging her. When my daughter screamed, the youths took her in an intoxicated state to Assi Ghat and left her there.”
The complaint also detailed, “On April 3, an individual identified as Danish took her to a friend’s room. There, Sohail, Shoaib, and another boy drugged my daughter and raped her. Subsequently, they left her near Chowkghat. The following day, on April 4, my daughter returned home and recounted her horrific experience to us.” The individuals who have been named as accused in the case are Raj, Sameer, Ayush, Sohail, Danish, Anmol, Sajid, Zahir, Imran, Jaib, Aman, and Raj Khan.
According to the police, a case has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) under the following sections: 70(1) (gang rape), 74 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 123 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with intent to commit an offence), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 127(2) (wrongful confinement), and 351(2) (criminal intimidation).
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