IIM-C rape case: Accused remanded to police custody
The Statesman | 13 July 2025
Premanand Mahaveer Toppannavar aka Parmanand Jain (26), the sole accused in the rape of an outsider student within the boys’ hostel of Indian Institute of Management- Calcutta (IIM-C) at Joka on the outskirts of South Kolkata on Friday night, was remanded to police custody till 19 July by a lower court here.
Although the public prosecutor sought police custody for the accused till 25 July, the judge of the trial court remanded him till 19 July.
The accused is a second-year student of IIM-C. He enrolled for the postgraduate degree in management (PGDM) in 2023 after clearing the Common Admission Test (CAT).
Meanwhile, breaking the day-long silence on the issue, especially over the allegations of severe security lapses within the institute campus, the IIM-C authorities finally issued a statement on the matter on Saturday. In the statement issued by the director-in-charge of IIM-C, Saibal Chattopadhyay, it was stated that the institute authorities were taking the matter seriously and were cooperating with the investigating officials.
However, it was clearly stated in the statement that the IIM-C authorities would refrain from making further comments on this issue during the investigation.
In the statement, the IIM-C authorities have cautiously avoided answering the queries raised on the security lapses within the institute campus, especially how the victim, being an outsider, could manage to enter the room of the boys’ hostel and that too without getting her name registered in the visitors’ book. Eyebrows are raised over how, after entering the campus, she was allowed to enter the boys’ hostel, where girls’ entry is prohibited beyond the visitor’s room.
Meanwhile, the Union government had sought a report from the IIM-C authorities in the matter, considering that IIM-C is a central institute, confirmed the Union minister of state for education, Sukanta Majumdar.
“All I can say is that law and order is a state subject, although the event took place within the campus of a central institute. I hope that the police will take action as per law,” Majumdar added.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh on the issue said, “Any political party should exercise caution before making conclusive remarks on this matter. Society is larger than the scope of politicising an incident immediately after it occurs. The place where the incident took place is a central institution, not a state-run one. Proper security measures should have been in place. Now, the girl’s father is saying that no torture took place. Earlier, we heard the Opposition allege that “they [family] were forced to write that nothing had happened.” Now [it is alleged that] Trinamul was forced to write that something had happened? There has to be a sense in all this. If someone wishes to file a complaint, they may do so. But when the girl’s father says nothing happened, it is up to them. The boy, a resident of Karnataka, can say what happened inside the central institution.”