Bagalkot youth main accused in IIM Calcutta rape case; Lawyers say claims false

BAGALKOT: The lawyers for the main accused in the alleged IIM Calcutta rape case, Mahaveer Topannavar alias Parmanand Jain, have claimed that a false case has been foisted against him. Parmanand Jain is a resident of Lokapura town in Mudhol taluk of the district and is a second-year MBA student at the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta.

Parmanand Jain’s lawyers Varun Patil, Kanishka Ravindra and another advocate stressed that there was no gangrape. “The allegations made in the complaint are false. The girl’s father has already said that there was no sexual assault. Premanad is cooperating with the investigation”, they pointed out.

“The victim’s father has given a statement saying that he spoke to his daugher and she said that she fell from a vehicle and sustained injuries. The father even asked her if she was raped and she has denied it”, lawyer Varun pointed out.

Paramanand was arrested by the Haridevpur police last Friday based on the victim’s complaint and produced before a court in Alipore which has remanded him to police custody till July 19. His parents have flown to Kolkata to secure his release on bail.

As per the victim’s complaint, Paramanand invited her to his hostel room on the pretext of offering her pizza and spiked her soft drink when he allegedly raped her. However, her family has denied any sexual assault, his lawyers say.

Last week, Paramanand’s mother had told a news agency that the family was stunned by the development and had no knowledge of the reason behind her son’s detention.

She said, “We recieved a call from his friend around 11 pm on that night. He told us that my son has been detained and he doesn’t know the reason… We have no clue why our son has been arrested… We want to meet our son and talk to him”.

“He was in the final year of his college… We do not know anything here in Kolkata…where the police station or the court is. My son is innocent. He has come so far to study. He will never do such a dirty thing”, she said.