Thai student allegedly raped by Hyderabad U professor

Students at the University of Hyderabad are staging protests in support of the Thai student allegedly raped by her professor yesterday.

The Thai student claimed that she was raped at the home of a senior professor last night.

Local police arrested the suspect, Ravi Ranjan, said to be in his sixties. Ranjan is a faculty member in the department of Hindi, at the school of humanities. He is now being held in police custody.

The New Indian Express reports that the academic has previously faced charges for similar offences. At that time, protests erupted on the Hyderabad campus, but neither police nor the University administration took any action against him.

The latest victim, aged 23, lodged a complaint with police and Ranjan has now been charged under section 354 of the Indian Penal Code – assaults or uses criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty.

The Thai student was studying under Ranjan in the department.

The accused reportedly took a special interest in the victim, and allegedly took her to his residence under the pretext of extra tuition, where he attempted to rape her. Sources say the victim was beaten as she attempted to fight off her assailant.

Ranjan then drove the victim back to the University gate and left her there.

The Thai student then headed immediately to Gachibowli Police Station where she filed a complaint against the man.

Students gathered today at the same gate, demanding justice for the victim. The protesters say that despite the severity of the claims, the registrar ignored their calls for action when a previous incident took place.