Visakhapatnam: Rishabh Singh, the accused in the Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University (DSNLU) rape case, on Friday claimed that he was innocent and did not force himself upon his junior student as had been claimed by her. The 21-year-old Rishabh, a Fourth Year law student of DSNLU, was arrested for allegedly raping his junior and was produced before the media on Friday.
Speaking to newsmen, Singh said that he and the girl were friends for the past few days and had enjoyed a small party at a star hotel on the Beach Road on Wednesday night before going to the apartment where four girls (all Second Year Law students of the university) were residing.
He also revealed that they had carried some liquor (vodka) bottles to the apartment and had consumed the lot. He said that they had gone to the apartment to practice for a moot court along with the four girls and had later slept in the apartment.
Though the victim mentioned in her complaint that Singh had covered her mouth and raped her despite her resisting, Singh claimed that he didn’t gag her mouth. “I was in a totally inebriated condition and do not remember what had happened exactly till the cops brought me to the police station,” he claimed. “You can check with the other girls who were present on that night. Had I tried to force myself she could have easily raised an alarm or woke up her other friend (girl) who also slept with us in the same room that night,” he claimed.
Replying a question, Singh said that he was the son of a law officer of Bihar Housing Board, Patna. He added that he never had any intention of harming the girl who had sought his help for the moot court project.
Inspector of MVP Police Station, S. Vidyasagar, said that the victim, a native of Lucknow, had mentioned in her complaint that she, her friend (a girl) and Singh had slept in the hall of the two bedroom flat in MVP Colony.
In the early hours, he tried to indulge in sexual activities which she thwarted. Later, he pinned her down with one hand and gagged her mouth with another and committed the rape. At around 4 am she called her friend, one Franzal, who took her to the DSNLU registrar, Dayanand Murthy, who advised them to go to King George Hospital. On the advice of hospital authorities, she lodged a formal complaint with the MVP Zone police.
The police arrested Rishabh Singh under Section 376 of IPC and the accused was sent to KGH for potency test. The victim was also sent to the same hospital for medical tests and the reports will come on Monday.
