University founder booked for raping nursing student

Vadodara: A 21-year-old nursing student today filed a rape case against a prominent educational entrepreneur and founder-president of the privately-owned Parul University located at Waghodia near here, police said.

The complainant also accused the woman rector of the girls’ hostel of the nursing institute affiliated to the university, where she is studying, of abetting the crime, police said.

In the FIR, the complainant said she was raped by the accused Jayesh Patel (66) at his residence, located near the girls’ hostel, after the rector Bhavnaben Patel took her there, Vadodara Rural SP Saurabh Tolambiya said.

The victim said she was taken to the residence of Patel last night, following which he raped her. After the alleged crime, he threatened to rusticate her from the institute and fail her in her nursing course in case she revealed it to anyone, police said.

She said she was also taken to his house on Thursday night, although no crime had taken place then.

Bhavnaben was in the know of the crime and in fact facilitated it, the victim said in the complaint.

A case was lodged at Waghodia poolice station against Patel under sections 376 (rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, while Bhavnaben has been booked under 114 (abetment), police said.

In the past, Patel had contested state assembly elections twice as Congress candidate against sitting BJP MLA Madhu Srivastava, but lost both the times. He had recently joined the BJP.