The police have issued summons to four accused persons in connection with inquiry into the alleged rape and sexual harassment of a woman research scholar of IIT-Madras.
The victim, a 30-year-old Dalit, had accused Kingshuk Debsharma, a co-scholar, of raping her and sexually harassing her between 2016 and 2020. She filed a complaint at All Women Police Station, Mylapore, in March 2020.
She had alleged that she was physically and mentally harassed by Debsharma ever since she joined the institution in 2016 while others played a role in it.
They took videos of her, circulated them and constantly blackmailed her. She alleged that she was sexually abused in Kodagu in Karnataka in 2018 when they went on a tour.
The accused allegedly disrobed her and filmed her in the lab on the campus.
AIDWA’s demand
The police filed a first information report in June. However, the FIR did not mention the rape charges.
It also omitted charges under Sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) recently demanded a probe into the case.
C. Subramanian, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Kotturpuram, has been appointed to investigate the case.
Rape charges and charges under Sections of SC/ST(Prevention of Atrocities) Act have been included in the case.
A special team picked up Debsharma in South Parganas in West Bengal last week. He was granted bail when he was produced for transit remand.
Debsharma is one of the eight accused in the case and is facing rape charges while the others are facing sexual harassment charges. All the eight have left the city.
Fresh summons
A senior police officer said: “We have sent questions to the IIT-M management seeking details about the crime and sought the report of the Complaints Committee against Sexual Harassment (CCaSH). A special team has been deputed to Kodagu where she was allegedly sexually harassed during a tour.”
“We have issued fresh summons to the main accused Kingshuk for inquiry since he had obtained bail for two weeks from a local court. Seven others allegedly harassed her and prevented her from complaining and four of them have been already interrogated. We have issued summons to three others — two are abroad and one is in Odisha. We will conduct a thorough investigation into the case,” the officer said.
