A local Gujarat court on Wednesday sent the suspended Gujarat BJP leader Jayesh Patel to 8-day police remand for alleged rape of a nursing student at Parul University that he had founded at Waghodia.

Rejecting Patel’s demand for a helper, the court said, “The police can take him for any medical assistance as needed; we do not see any need for a helper.”

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

According to a PTI report, a 21-year-old nursing student on Saturday had filed a rape case against Patel, a senior BJP leader in Gujarat. Embarrassed over the rape allegations, the BJP had suspended Patel from the party.

In her complaint, the victim had 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.

The victim said she was taken to the residence of Patel Friday 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.

In the FIR, the complainant said she was raped by the 66-year-old BJP leader Jayesh Patel 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 Friday 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 police 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.