The police remand of a businessman accused of raping a 21-year-old Irish charity worker in India's eastern city of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) earlier this month was yesterday extended by a fortnight to June 24th.
The magistrate denied bail to Sujoy Mitra (25) and sent him back to police custody for the second time since his arrest on June 1st for allegedly doping and raping the woman after a night out in the city. On June 4th he was remanded in police custody until yesterday to allow police time to investigate the case. But investigators yesterday demanded more time to complete their inquiries.
Meanwhile, the woman, who had travelled to India to work for a local non-governmental organisation, is in a Kolkata hospital where she was admitted on Saturday.
Intensive care
Sources at the Calcutta Medical Research Institute yesterday said she was still in intensive care where her condition was stable, though she was "groggy" and needed a few days to fully recover.
The young woman was rushed to the institute after she was found unconscious in her hotel room in central Kolkata at about 6.30am on Saturday by another Irish woman also staying there.
The Times of India reported that the hospital authorities had informed the Irish consulate who had contacted her parents in Ireland asking them to take her home. Efforts to contact the Irish Embassy in New Delhi yesterday were unsuccessful.
