India: man arrested for allegedly raping an Irish woman

A man has been arrested for allegedly raping an Irish woman in Kolkata. On Sunday, the Alipore court remanded Mitra to police custody till June 5.

A 21-year old Irish woman was allegedly raped by accused Sujoy Mitra in his Kalighat home in Kolkata on May 31.

The victim lodged a complaint with police on June 1 following which Mitra, 35 was arrested. Police have charged him with rape. On Sunday, the Alipore court remanded Mitra to police custody till June 5.

Mitra reportedly befriended the victim when she was strolling around the New Market area and took her to his place on the pretext of partying.

The victim is an engineering student in an institute in Ireland and is working at a Darjeeling-based NGO. Police said she was in the city on May 31 to see one of her friends off to Ireland. The victim returned from the airport and put up at a hotel in the New Market area, following which she decided to go around the area.

“It was around 10 pm in New Market that the victim befriended Mitra. May 31 being her birthday, she decided to go partying. After partying at a few places, Mitra took her to his Kalighat residence around midnight and forced himself upon her,” Kalighat police station additional officer-in-charge Subrata Dey said.

The incident added to Kolkata’s growing list of crimes against foreigners as a South Korean woman was molested by a youth in a running bus on March 25.

Though police suspect both Mitra and the Irish woman were in a drunken state when the incident took place, the accused reportedly told police during interrogation that he is suffering from pancreatitis and refrains from drinking.

The incident has once again raised questions on the security of foreigners in the city. According to the National Crime Records Bureau figures of 2011, Bengal recorded the second highest number of rapes (2363) only after Madhya Pradesh.