Woman raped on agri university campus in Jabalpur; two held

The survivor, a resident of the Tilwara area, came across information on social media about contractual vacancies at the university around 20 days ago

A 22-year-old woman was allegedly raped by a clerk of a state government-run university on the campus on the pretext of providing her a job at the facility in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur city, police said on Saturday.

The police on Thursday arrested Durga Shankar Singerha (58), an upper division clerk (UDC), and Mukesh Sen, a peon, in connection with the assault that took place on the campus of the Jawaharlal Nehru Agricultural University.

The survivor, a resident of the Tilwara area, came across information on social media about contractual vacancies at the university around 20 days ago, Additional Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar told reporters.

He said that while searching for contact details, the woman found a telephone number for the vice-chancellor's office, and Singerha received her call, allegedly informed her about the vacancies and asked her to come to the university with documents.

She reached the university with documents the very next day and met Singerha, who assured her that he could get her a job after speaking to the vice-chancellor and asked her to stay in touch, the officer said.

According to the police, Singerha continued to meet the woman several times in the city, kept assuring her that the recruitment process was underway and that an interview would be held soon.

The accused allegedly called her to the university on Thursday afternoon, claiming that an interview would be scheduled shortly, they said.

He asked the survivor to come to Sen's house situated on the university campus, and after a chat, the accused peon left the room, bolting the door from outside.

"The woman, in her complaint, alleged that Singerha raped her despite her protests," the official said.

Following the assault, the accused duo dropped her outside the university campus and threatened her with defamation if she spoke about the incident, and said she would get a job if she kept mum, police said.

The woman later informed her family and lodged a complaint at Adhartal police station, following which both accused were arrested from their homes within hours, the ASP said.

The duo was produced before a court on Friday and were remanded in judicial custody, he added.