IIT Jodhpur professor gets 10 years in rape case involving former student

A Noida fast-track court has sentenced an assistant professor from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jodhpur to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping a former student in 2019. Alongside the sentence, the court imposed a fine of ₹20,000.

The convict, Vivek Vijay Vargia, served as a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics at IIT Jodhpur from February 2009 until December 2024. According to case records, he first taught the survivor during her studies in 2000. Their interactions resumed in 2011 when she briefly worked at the institute on a contractual position and was exploring better career opportunities.

The survivor, then 35 years old, alleged that Vargia raped her on June 6, 2019, after calling her to a guesthouse in Noida’s Film City area on the pretext of discussing a job opportunity. A case was registered the same day at a Noida police station, and Vargia was arrested from Noida Sector 16 metro station on June 7. Police filed the chargesheet in September 2019.

On November 27, Additional Sessions Judge Priyanka Kumari held Vargia guilty, rejecting the defence’s argument regarding a delay in filing the FIR. The court noted that investigating officers reached the scene shortly after the incident, and the delay occurred at the police station — not due to hesitation or lack of intent from the complainant.

“The testimony showed that the police arrived at the scene soon after the incident and that the delay in formally registering the FIR occurred at the police station,” the court observed in its order.

During the trial, the prosecution presented multiple witnesses, all of whom the court deemed consistent and reliable. Their statements, along with documentary and circumstantial evidence, supported the prosecution’s case that the accused lured the complainant to the guesthouse with a false job promise before assaulting her.

Rejecting Vargia’s claim that the survivor never visited the guesthouse, the court concluded that the cumulative evidence established his presence, actions, and guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Vargia is expected to serve the full sentence unless he files an appeal and obtains relief from a higher court.