IIM-Calcutta rape case: Kolkata Police sets up nine-member SIT

Kolkata: Police have constituted a nine-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the alleged rape of a woman by a second-year student of the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta (IIM-C) inside the boys’ hostel at the Joka campus in Kolkata.

According to state police sources, the SIT’s initial focus will be to resolve discrepancies between the statements given by the victim and her father.

The victim, in her statement, alleged that the accused invited her to the boys’ hostel on Friday evening for counselling and offered her pizza and cold drinks laced with sedatives. She claimed that after consuming the food, she lost consciousness.

Thereafter, as per her statement to the police, accused Parmanand Mahaveer Toppannavar a.k.a. Parmanand Jain (26) raped her in the hostel while she was unconscious.

However, the victim’s father told media persons that nothing of that sort happened to his daughter and that she became unconscious after tumbling while alighting from a vehicle.

He maintained his version even after a Kolkata trial court remanded the accused to police custody until July 19.

The SIT will also examine a possible breach of security protocol at IIM-C, as the victim reportedly entered the boys’ hostel without registering her name in the visitors’ book.

Haridevpur Police Station, which has jurisdiction over the Joka campus, has sent a letter to IIM-C authorities seeking details about the standard operating procedures for campus security and whether any lapses occurred on the evening of the incident.

On Saturday, IIM-C authorities stated that they would refrain from commenting as the matter is under investigation.

(inputs from IANS)