Woman alleges rape by army jawan in Kolkata's Park Street police station

The Hindu

2 days ago

A woman has alleged rape by an army jawan in Kolkata's Park Street area. The prime accused has been arrested by the city police. This comes as two other cases of rape in the past month has shaken the city with many taking to the streets to protest against the lack of safety of women in Kolkata.
The survivor's husband is in jail, and according to the complaint filed by her, the accused had agreed to help free her husband from jail and get him out on bail. She filed the complaint at the Park Street police station on Wednesday (July 23, 2025) night against the army jawan who works in Assam.
The complainant has also said that the jawan Manibur Rahman lured her with promises of her husband's freedom and repeatedly raped her for multiple days. In her written complaint, the homemaker stated that Rahman had assured her different types of assistance during January-February, 2024.
The accused was arrested at the Watgunge Police Station. He is a native of Birbhum district in West Bengal. He was produced in a city court on Thursday (July 24, 2025); the court gave police custody until August 4.
Rahman had also threatened to make the survivor's nude photos public. Investigation is underway and is being interrogated.
The Kolkata Police have already recorded the survivor's statement, and she has undergone medical tests for further investigation.
This comes as two rape cases from South Calcutta Law College and Indian Institute of Management–Calcutta is still under investigation. This is the third incident of rape in the city within a month raising questions about women's safety in the city.
Sentence of rape accused reduced
The division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Md Shabbar Rashidi of Calcutta High Court on Wednesday has reduced the sentence of two convicts Fagun Mandi and Rabindra Routh found guilty in the gangrape and murder of a five-year-old girl.
A Jhargram sessions court had awarded the two men death sentence in 2023. Justice Basak has given the two life imprisonment without the possibility of remission for 60 years.
Considering the socio-economic background of the convicts, the judge noted 'we deem it appropriate to impose life sentence on both the appellants without the possibility of remission for a period of 60 years from the date of commission of the offence.'
The rape and murder of the minor had happened in 2021 when she was missing from home and found buried in a paddy field. The convicts were awarded death sentence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) act.