IIM-Calcutta rape case: Accused student admits to spiking drink; SIT flags contradictory statements

NEW DELHI: The student accused of rape at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta has admitted to purchasing sleeping pills and mixing them into cold drinks and water before offering them to the woman, police said on Monday.According to a senior police officer, the accused told investigators that he bought the pills from a nearby pharmacy and served the spiked drinks to the woman during a visit she made to his hostel room for counselling."The accused had admitted to having bought sleeping pills and spiked the cold drinks and drinking water which he had offered the woman when she was there. But he could not clarify what the real intention was behind doing all these to a woman who went to him for counselling.

He is not answering this question," the officer said to news agency PTI.

Investigators said circumstantial evidence suggests the woman consumed the cold drink and then went to a room in the boys’ hostel, where the alleged assault occurred."The accused after committing the crime, rang up one of his friends and narrated the entire crime. During the conversation, he was loitering in the verandah in front of the room where the crime took place," the officer added.

Police also raised questions about the woman’s professional background, stating that there were discrepancies in her claim of being a psychologist."She could not place any documents supporting her qualifications as a psychologist. She has not disclosed which institution she attended. We are yet to get information about her chamber and any prescription having her name and other details," the officer said.Investigators further noted inconsistencies in the statements of the victim’s father and are probing whether the family is under pressure or influenced in any way."Contradictory" elements in the father's statement have led police to examine the possibility of external pressure or financial transactions influencing the family's position.A nine-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by an assistant commissioner from the South West Division has been constituted to probe the case.The incident reportedly occurred in a boys’ hostel on the IIM-Calcutta campus on Friday. The accused student was arrested the following day after the woman filed an FIR at Haridevpur Police Station.He has been remanded to police custody until July 19.(With agency inputs)