The Gauhati High Court has granted bail to a student of Indian Institute of Technology who allegedly raped another student, and said that both of them were the “state’s future assets”, Live Law reported on Monday.

The complainant is a second-year student of chemical engineering at IIT-Guwahati. She alleged that the accused lured her to the premises of a school on the pretext of discussing her responsibilities as the joint secretary of the Finance and Economic Club at the institute.

She alleged that the accused forced her to drink alcohol, and then raped her when she became unconscious.

The alleged incident took place on March 28. According to the FIR, the complainant woke up the next morning at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital, where she received medical treatment and underwent a forensic examination.

Justice Ajit Borthakur, in his order on August 13, said that there was a clear prima facie case as alleged by the complainant. However, the judge noted that the investigation in the case has been completed.

The judge described both the complainant and the accused as the “state’s future assets being talented students pursuing technical courses at the IIT-Guwahati, who are young in the age group of 19 to 21 years only...”

Justice Borthakur referred to a list of witnesses cited in the chargesheet and said that there was no possibility for the accused to tamper with their evidence or influence them directly or indirectly.

The court, while granting bail to the accused, directed him to furnish a bond of Rs 30,000 and two sureties of the same amount, PTI reported.

The judge also noted that it was judicially well-settled that while dealing with a bail application, the court was not expected to discuss the merits and demerits of the evidence in the matter. However, the court was expected to give prima facie reasons in brief for granting bail, he noted.