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Debasish Mondal sits in the lock-up of the court in Jalpaiguri on Friday. Picture by Biplab Basak
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Jalpaiguri, March 22: A doctor in Jalpaiguri has been accused of rape by a colleague who alleged he had maintained a physical relationship with her on the false promise of marriage.
Debasish Mondal, a deputy chief medical officer of health in charge of the malaria department, has been arrested and sent to 14 days’ judicial custody. Mondal, whose wife and son live in South 24-Parganas, has denied the allegation and accused the complainant, a technical employee in the doctor’s department, of blackmailing him.
Police said Mondal stayed alone at a rented house in Jalpaiguri. The lady, who the police said knew the doctor was married, lives alone in another rented apartment.
James Kuzur, the additional superintendent of police of Jalpaiguri, said: “Today, the lady filed a complaint against Mondal at Kotwali police station. She alleged that Mondal had promised to marry her and had been maintaining a physical relationship with her for months. In her complaint, she also mentioned that the doctor had raped her on multiple occasions. We have arrested Mondal.”
The medical officer has been charged under Sections 376 (rape) and 493 (cohabitation caused by a man deceitfully inducing a belief of lawful marriage) of the IPC.
Mondal filed a counter-complaint against the woman in the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court, where he was produced this afternoon. He accused the woman of calling him up and sending him text messages threatening to lodge a police complaint accusing him of rape.
Swarup Mondal and Sandip Dutta, the two lawyers who represented Mondal in court, said he had been implicated. “We had submitted an application for bail but the court has rejected it. The case will be heard again on April 5. The charges levelled against him are baseless,” Swarup Mondal said.
As the news of the arrest spread, a group of employees from the district malaria office met Swapan Sarkar, the chief medical officer of health of Jalpaiguri, demanding that the doctor and the complainant be barred from entering office as their presence “would affect the work environment”.
“I have learnt about the entire case and have already informed higher officials in the state health department. The employees had come to me with a plea that both of them should be removed from the office. We are looking into the issue and awaiting further instructions,” Sarkar said.
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