According to the woman, she was offered lift by a man whom she had befriended at the nightclub; three other men were also inside the car when she boarded it. The woman said one of the men, whom she has identified as Sarafat Ali, pinned her down in the moving car, took out a pistol, placed its barrel in her mouth, and raped her before abandoning her near Exide House, some 2 km from Park Hotel. She said she later took a taxi to her home in Behala.

While the incident took place on February 5 late evening, the woman said she went to the police accompanied by her aunt four days later — on February 9 — as she was in a state of trauma.

In the police complaint, she has identified the other three men in the car as Azhar Ali, Luvi Gidwani and Salman, who was driving the car.

Interestingly, the woman said she tracked down the four accused on social networking website Facebook.

Alleging misbehaviour and negligence on the part of the Park Street police, the victim’s aunt said that when they had gone to the police station on Tuesday to find out if there was any headway in the case, the police officer on duty asked the 37-year-old if she was interested in going to a nightclub with him.

Police said the delay in investigation was due to a “technical problem”.

Joint commissioner (crime) Damyanti Sen said: “The complaint was lodged on February 9 and the woman was taken to the Medical College for a medical test. As the forensic expert was not available on the day, she was asked to come on February 14.”