PhD student alleges repeated rape by scholar who promised marriage

A PhD student of Jawaharlal Nehru University alleged that she was raped on the pretext of marriage. The accused who is a research scholar is absconding, police said on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old woman stays in a hostel on the campus, while the accused, who hails from Patna, lives in a rented house in south Delhi’s Munirka.

Police said she made a call to the police control room around 2.30 pm on Tuesday.
“She was taken to AIIMS for a medical examination and her statement was recorded in the presence of NGO counsellors,” said a police officer.

The woman told police that the accused often visited her hostel room and repeatedly raped her over last few months.

The accused allegedly promised to marry her, and also raped her in his house.
It is also alleged that he made clips on his phone and threatened her with dire consequences when she threatened to approach police.

“The woman claims that the accused threatened to destroy her career if she complained to police,” the officer added.

A case under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered with Vasant Kunj (North) police station.

The woman alleged that she had approached police earlier, but no FIR was registered despite being taken for a medical examination.

The incident has blown the security whistle on the JNU campus.

“Generally, the response is to add 50 CCTV cameras and 100 guards. But we will have to think beyond it,” president of JNU students’ union Ashutosh Kumar said.
“It is an issue of collective culture and collective responsibility.”

Last time, such an incident was reported in July. Students said after the incident, security measures taken by the university included strict process of registering an entry and deployment of more security guards.

The student union said they had also organised a ‘diversity week’ last month for gender sensitisation.