The Kolkata Police, which is probing the alleged rape of a young woman at the Joka campus hostel of the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta (IIM-C), is finding it difficult to move ahead with the investigation due to “non-cooperation” of the woman and her family, sources said.
The woman, who is in her early 20s and claimed to be a psychologist, has not given consent to the medico-legal examination and failed to appear before a magistrate on Monday to record her statement. Police have arrested a second-year student of the IIM-C, Parmanand Toppaunwar, 26, for rape.
In her complaint to the police on July 12, the woman had alleged that Toppaunwar called her to the Joka campus hostel on Friday (July 11) for a “counselling session” since she was a psychologist and the two had met on social media. She alleged that she was raped after she lost consciousness on consuming the food and water offered by the accused.
“The SIT is looking at all the angles in the case. We approached the woman as we wanted to know from where she had completed her course as a clinical psychologist and whether she had a valid licence to give counselling sessions. But the woman could not be reached,” said a senior police officer involved in the probe.
On Sunday, Kolkata Police formed a nine-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by an ACP-rank officer and comprising three women officers, to probe the rape case.
“The main priority of the SIT now is to speak to the woman to confirm the exact sequence of events. The timeline remains unclear, and the conflicting statement made by the woman’s father has raised some questions,” another police officer said.
The woman’s father had earlier claimed that no such incident had taken place. He claimed that he received a call at 9.34 pm on Friday (July 11, the day the alleged rape took place), informing him that his daughter had fallen out of an auto and lost consciousness. He claimed he was told that she was admitted to a hospital by the police.
According to police, the accused, during questioning, claimed that he came in contact with the woman a few months ago through a counselling app.
Toppaunwar told police that he had informed the hostel warden that a counsellor would be visiting him, and as a result, he did not make an entry of the woman’s visit in the hostel register.
Sources in the police said that the IIM-C informed them that Toppaunwar had mailed the institute about a friend visiting him on the campus on July 11.
It is to be noted that the woman in complaint to the police had stated that when she arrived on the campus, Toppaunwar met her at the gate and asked her not to enter her name in the visitor’s register, which raised some doubts.
Sources said the police are also looking into the tower location of the cellphone of the woman, as she has claimed that she was in the IIM-C hostel till 8.30 pm when she gained consciousness.
“But the institute has told us that the woman left the campus in the afternoon. So, we need to verify it,” said a police officer, adding that the forensic experts are examining the mobile phones of both the accused and the woman.
Meanwhile, the lawyer of the accused, Subrata Sardar, said they have sought a report on the statement made by the woman’s father. Referring to the woman not appearing before a magistrate on Monday to record her statement, Sardar said: “We have moved the court for a report regarding the video statement given by the father that the incident did not happen. Also, we have asked for a report on why the woman’s statement has not been recorded yet.”
When asked about the defence counsel’s move, Chief Public Prosecutor Sourin Ghosal told The Indian Express: “The accused has not got any say regarding the mode and method of investigation as per the Supreme Court’s guideline.”