Kolkata, July 14 (IANS) The woman, becoming the victim of ‘rape’ within the campus of the Indian Institute of Management- Calcutta (IIM-C) at Joka on the outskirts of South Kolkata last Friday evening, did not turn up at the trial court here on Monday to get her statements recorded in front of a judicial magistrate.

However, no reason surfaced why she ultimately did not appear at the trial court to get her statements recorded.

On Monday, after the victim did not turn up at the trial court to get her statements recorded, the counsel of the accused argued that it was the duty of the police to ensure the presence of the victim at the court. Thereafter, the judge of the trial court sought a report from the police on the matter.

Her absence at the trial court on Monday added to the already existing confusion and contradictory factors in the case that the investigating officials in the matter are trying to resolve.

The most important is the confusion arising from the contradictory statements given by the victim and her father.

On the one hand, the victim, in her statement, claimed that the accused called her to the boys’ hostel within the campus on Friday evening for counselling, and offered her pizza and cold drinks laced with sedatives. The victim claimed that after consuming the pizza, she fell unconscious. Thereafter, as per her statement to the police, the accused Parmanand raped her in the hostel while she was unconscious.

On the contrary, the victim’s father had told media persons that nothing of that sort happened with her daughter, and she became unconscious as she tumbled while alighting from a vehicle. The victim’s father stuck to his statement even as a trial court on Saturday remanded the accused to police custody till July 19.

In his argument, the public prosecutor stressed the necessity to verify the statement given by the victim’s father, contradicting his daughter’s claims. He also said that there should be clarity on why the victim’s father was contradicting her daughter on such a crucial issue.

–IANS

src/uk