In a neighbourhood where many residents are forced to keep their windows shut to escape the drunken leer of some youths, a young woman was allegedly gang-raped at her rented home on New Year’s Eve night.

The owner of the house at Kulberia in North 24-Parganas, around 35km from the heart of Calcutta, was allegedly beaten up when he tried to resist the gang.

Three men have been arrested — Ratan Das, 29, alias Tota, Sougata Sarkar, 24, and Mrinal Biswas, 26. Police said at least two more youths were part of the gang.

Ratan had been convicted in connection with the murder of Sourav Chowdhury, 22, who the police said had been killed for protesting hooch trader, teasing and other illegal activities in the area.

Ratan, who had been held guilty of harbouring those involved in the murder, spent five years in jail and returned home to Kulberia nine months ago. Residents said he had unleashed a reign of terror in the locality since his return from jail.

Another accused in the gang-rape, Sougata, is pursuing a law degree from an open university. His father is a lawyer at the Barasat court, the police said.

The third accused, Mrinal, is unemployed.

“The woman has lodged a complaint of gang-rape. She has undergone a medical test,” said an officer of the Barasat police district.

A youth, who refused to be named, said he was part of the group that was having a year-end party with biryani and alcohol on a ground adjoining a club. Around 2am some youths in the group allegedly attacked the house where the young woman stays on rent.

“Around 2am I heard some commotion. But I was too drunk to make out what was happening. I only learnt on Wednesday morning what had happened the previous night,” he said.

The police said the woman had moved into the single-room accommodation around 10 days back. The landlord is her colleague at a residential-cum-commercial complex in Barasat, where she had started working recently.

In his statement to the police, the landlord said the accused had first tried to barge into the woman’s home and approached him when they failed. The woman’s room can be accessed from the road.

“They beat me up and took away my cellphone when I refused to help them enter her room and tried to resist them. They kept kicking her door while I was pinned down. The gang even threatened to kill me,” the landlord said.

He ran out looking for help. By the time he returned, the woman had allegedly been raped and she was lying unconcious in her room. The men had fled.

Residents of the locality said it was unsafe for women and girls to remain outdoors after evening. Many said they were forced to keep the windows of their homes closed to prevent drunken youths from leering at women and girls from outside.

Bamangachhi, of which Kulberia is a part, has been witnessing criminal activities at a frightening frequency over the past several years, prompting many residents to decide to leave the place.

“I am done living here. We have been living here for many years but still these youths do not spare my wife. My wife and child cannot have dinner keeping the windows open. It shocks me that people I have known for years are passing lewd comments at my wife,” said a man in his mid-30s, who is all set to shift to another locality. “They do not just leer from outside.... they throw stones at the closed windows of the house.”

An uneasy calm prevailed in the locality when Metro went there on Thursday afternoon. Residents were huddled in several pockets. Furtive glances were cast at strangers and some residents wanted to know the identity of the reporter and the photographer from this newspaper.

“Come inside quickly. No one should know we are talking to you,” a woman in her 60s said, fear writ large on her face.

“Everyone here has been living in fear since Tota (Ratan) got out of jail. We make sure that the women of our house are back by dusk. Every evening Tota and his friends would drink near the club. They often pass lewd comments at women and girls and extort money from residents,” the woman said.

The arrested trio were produced in Barasat court on Thursday and remanded in police custody for three days. The woman’s lawyer alleged that he had been threatened by a section of lawyers after he took the case because one of the accused is the son of a lawyer.

The additional superintendent of police, Barasat police district, Biswa Chandra Thakur, said a probe had been started. “Three arrests have been made and we are trying to find out whether others were involved,” he said.