A second-year student of the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta has been arrested after a woman alleged she was raped inside the hostel at the premier institute.
The police have charged the accused under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including rape, and seized his clothes and phone for forensic examination. Four others have also been detained and are being questioned.
The woman has alleged that Parmanand Toppaunwar, who hails from Karnataka, called her to the campus in Joka on Friday. She told police that she is a psychologist and the accused her client, and he had asked her to come to the campus for a counselling session. The two had met on social media, she wrote in her complaint.
She alleged that when she arrived on campus, he met her at the gate and asked her not to enter her name in the visitor’s register, which raised some doubts. The accused allegedly made an excuse that he had work in the hostel and asked her to accompany him, she told the police.
She told police that in the hostel, she was offered lunch and water, which she alleged was spiked. According to her statement to the police, she told him she wanted to vomit and use the washroom, but the accused allegedly dissuaded her by saying that he did not want to be spotted with a woman.
She alleged she then lost consciousness and was raped. She told police that she was still inside the hostel room when she regained consciousness around 8:30 pm. After leaving, she informed a friend about the alleged incident, and they reported the incident to the police.
Police said the hostel room was cordoned off and forensic samples were collected from the scene.
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Police sources said they will question the hostel superintendent and the security guard and check CCTV footage.
Minister of State for Education, Sukanta Majumdar, said they have asked the police to take action since “law and order is not in our hands”. “We have asked the director to submit a report,” he said.
The accused was produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate of Alipore Court, who granted police custody until July 19.
During the hearing, Chief Public Prosecutor Sourin Ghosal submitted, “The investigation is at a preliminary stage. The mobile and apparel of the accused, as well as the woman’s apparel, have been seized. We need to visit the place of the crime and do a reconstruction. We require the accused in custody as his mobile is password protected and we need to see whether any video has been recorded to blackmail the victim at a later date.”
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The counsel for the accused, Subrata Sardar, submitted, “My client is being framed. There are loopholes in the complaint. It is a restricted place with tight security.”
‘Aware of serious complaint’
In a statement on the issue, IIC-Calcutta said, “The administration has been made aware of a serious complaint involving one of our students, and the complainant is not of the institute. We are treating this matter with the utmost seriousness and are fully cooperating with the law enforcement authorities, who are currently conducting an investigation. The concerned individual has been taken into police custody, and the legal process is underway. The Institute is committed to ensuring that due process is followed while safeguarding the dignity, safety, and privacy of all individuals involved.”
“We wish to affirm that IIM-Calcutta has zero tolerance for such incidents and remains steadfast in upholding a safe and respectful campus environment. We are also taking all necessary steps to support the ongoing investigation and ensure that institutional protocols are adhered to,” it said.
Meanwhile, the woman’s father claimed that no such incident had taken place. He claimed that he received a call at 9:34 pm on Friday, informing him that his daughter had fallen out of an auto and lost consciousness. He claimed he was told she was admitted to a hospital by the police.
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“The police told me they have registered a case and arrested someone. My daughter said the police told her to say something during the medical exam; I have spoken to her. She said no one tortured her or misbehaved with her. My daughter is back and she is fine. She has no connection with the man who has been arrested… I have not been able to speak to her at length. She is sleeping. I will talk to her after she wakes up,” he claimed.
The mother of the accused, who reached Kolkata from Karnataka on Saturday, said she got news of the arrest from her son’s friend. “He has come so far to study. He will never do such a thing,” she said.
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