New Delhi: The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C) was at the centre of controversy on Saturday after a woman accused a student of raping her inside the institute’s Joka campus. The accused, identified as Mahaveer Toppannavar alias Parmanand Jain, was arrested by Kolkata Police and remanded in seven-day custody under charges of rape, wrongful confinement, and use of harmful substances with intent to harm.

The 24-year-old complainant, reportedly a psychologist, said she had first connected with the accused online. She visited the campus on Friday for what she described as a “personal counselling session.” According to her complaint, she was not allowed to register her name in the visitors’ logbook, a claim that institute officials have denied.

Toppannavar allegedly took her to his hostel room, citing privacy concerns, and offered her pizza and a drink. “I began feeling dizzy right after,” the woman wrote in her complaint, quoted by police. “…I can recall him touching me inappropriately. He sexually assaulted me. I found myself on his bed when I regained my senses,” she stated, as per the media reports.

However, the case took a dramatic turn less than 12 hours later when her father publicly contradicted the complaint in interviews with several news channels. “My daughter had called me and said she had fallen off an autorickshaw. Cops said she was abused and arrested someone, but my daughter said nothing happened,” he said, according to several media reports.

Police sources revealed that they are now facing a wall of silence from the family. “They keep saying she is asleep,” said a senior officer, suggesting difficulties in proceeding with the investigation.

Toppannavar, a second-year MBA student from Karnataka, was arrested from his hostel room on Saturday and produced in court. The case has since drawn strong reactions from various quarters.

Speaking to news agency ANI, the accused’s mother said her son was innocent. “We received a call from his friend around 11 at 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 is or the Court. My son is innocent. He has come so far to study. He will never do such a dirty thing…”

The state’s ruling TMC stated that no party should politicize the incident, as it would be premature to comment on what exactly happened at this stage. The police should be allowed to do their job (investigation). TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said, “His party should not be linked with every complaint, every alleged crime.” “Did she tell us before filing any complaint? No way. Again, her father now says something else to the media. Did he ask us? We must wait for investigations to be completed. IIM (C) is a leading institute that is under the Centre. They have a security system. We should not do anything to derail a proper investigation. Let the truth come out,” he added.

Union Minister of State for Education and senior BJP leader, Sukanta Majumdar, told reporters there is strict security at the IIM (C) campus, and he will talk to the director about the alleged incident. Majumdar said state police should undertake a fair and proper investigation into the alleged incident.