Manipal, Jun 29: Three governments and a university are trying to cover up the gang-rape case of a Manipal medical student, according to a senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader.
In order to prevent Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy from visiting the victim, Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University K. Ramnarayan had used the excuse that the medical student and her parents were not interested in talking to anyone, he said. “Can a vice-chancellor stop a Chief Minister from visiting a student?” he asked.
When Mr. Srirama Reddy himself led a delegation of elected representatives from Kerala, including M.B. Rajesh, Pallakad MP, P.K. Sreemathi, teacher, and T.V. Rajesh, MLA, to meet the student, they were told by the medical superintendent of Kasturba Hospital and dean of Kasturba Medical College that the student did not want to meet anyone. “How does one know who she wants to meet?” he said.
The IGP (Western Range), Pratap Reddy, and Superintendent of Police M.B. Boralingaiah were repeatedly telling the press that the student was not giving a statement. He said the gang-rape was no longer a private matter, but a public issue.
The police should convince the student to give a statement. If she does not, then there are laws by which the statement can be procured. The statement is essential, so that such incidents do not recur, he said. He said though Manipal was a deemed university, it did not have a campus of its own.
The varsity is located in such a manner that it is difficult to demarcate public and private spaces; it is a porous campus. “Since the university does not have its own campus with a compound, the Union government should de-recognise Manipal University,” he said. “If the State government fails to investigate the case properly, the CPI(M) will demand a CBI probe.”
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