Woman claims ‘rape’ at IIM Kolkata; 1 held

Kolkata: A second-year student of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kolkata was arrested for allegedly raping a woman after she was made to eat and drink some drug-mixed pizza and water inside the hostel room. The accused was arrested based on an FIR lodged by the woman at Haridevpur Police Station. The student was produced at the Alipore Court on Saturday and has been remanded to police custody till July 19. It is alleged that the victim, a woman who is a psychological counsellor, had met the accused on social media.

On Friday, the woman was asked to come to the boys' hostel of IIM Kolkata for a counselling session. Accordingly, she arrived at the hostel in the morning. But the accused asked the victim not to write her name and other details in the visitors’ register. Later, the woman was taken to the hostel room. The woman reportedly alleged that she was given a pizza to eat. After having the food, she felt drowsy and uncomfortable. When she wanted to go to the washroom, the accused allegedly stopped her and assaulted her as well. After a while, she became unconscious. When she regained her consciousness, she found that she had been sexually tortured. Later, the woman approached the Thakurpukur police station for help. From there, she was taken to the Haridevpur Police Station, where she lodged a complaint. After registering a case, police went to the IIM and arrested the accused after observing all legal formalities. "The woman stated in the FIR that she was called to the hostel for a counselling session. She then became unconscious after consuming a drink laced with drugs at the hostel. The woman realised she had been raped after regaining consciousness," it was learnt.

Meanwhile, the victim's father reportedly claimed that the woman called him around 9:34 pm and said that she had fallen from the car and became ill. Later, she lost consciousness. She did not understand where she was. While talking about the written statement, the woman's father said that she was made to write that. However, he did not clarify who made her write the statement. The state's ruling TMC said the incident should not be politicised by any party as it would be premature to comment on what exactly happened at this stage and police should be allowed to do its job (investigation). Voicing displeasure about attempts in some quarters to link TMC with the prompt action by police in acting on a complaint by the woman, party's state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said: "His party should not be linked with every complaint, every alleged crime."