KOLKATA: A 19-year-old girl from Mumbai was allegedly drugged and raped by a youth in a well-lit park in the heart of the city on Thursday night. Ironically, the patch of green near Park Circus Maidan is christened Ladies’ Park . This comes exactly a week after a gangrape in the posh Golf Garden Area in south Kolkata.

The police are looking for a man in his early 30s, who identified himself to the victim as Mintu Hota, and a girl of around 23-24 who accompanied him and may have helped lay the trap.

The girl apparently left Mumbai three weeks ago after fighting with her parents. She came to Kolkata and stayed with a distant uncle. She worked as a maid for a family in Akra Santoshpur for about 15 days but quit after a disagreement. She eventually decided to return home, but not knowing her way around the city, landed up at Sealdah station hoping to catch a train, say police.

There is no train to Mumbai from Sealdah but the girl hung around for two days, apparently because she did not know the way to Howrah station. She has told the police she slept on the platform, where a woman befriended her. It was she who introduced her to Hota.

Hota promised to give her money to return home and the duo reached Howrah at 8pm on Thursday. But on reaching there, he told her the last train to Mumbai had left. There are at least two trains after 8pm — 12321 Mumbai Mail at 10pm and 12102 Jnaneswari Express at 10.55pm.

Hota then promised to find her a place to stay for the night. They tried for a room in Howrah, Tiljala and Topsia but did not have any luck, says the girl. He then brought her to Ladies’ Park and asked her to wait as he fetched food. A little later, he brought her a soft drink. After a few sips, she began to feel drowsy and lost consciousness. It is then that he allegedly raped her.

On Friday morning, locals found the semi-conscious girl lying in the park, groaning in pain. They called Beniapukur police, who took her to hospital. She was produced in Sealdah court to record her statement and was moved to a rehab home. A police officer said a rape case has been filed but “grey areas” in the victim’s statement are also being probed.