Breaking News
Kolkata Law Student Gang-Raped on Campus; Former Student Among Three Arrested
Three people, including two students and a college staff member, have been detained in a terrible event that has shocked Kolkata. They are accused of raping a 24-year-old law student on June 25 inside a guard room on the campus of a law college in south Kolkata.
The accused have been identified by authorities as college employee Monojit Mishra (31), students Zaib Ahmed (19), and Pramit Mukherjee (20). The arrests came after the survivor submitted a written complaint to the Kasba Police Station on June 26.
Timeline of the Incident
Around 4 p.m., the survivor allegedly went to the institution for formal business. It is said that Mishra convinced her to remain. She was escorted into the ground floor guard room, where the sexual assault occurred, later that night between 7:30 and 10:50 p.m. She told her parents about the incident, and they went straight to the police.
Mukherjee was picked up from his house at around midnight that same evening, and Mishra and Ahmed were taken into custody close to Talbagan Park. The three have been placed under police detention till July 1 after appearing before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court in Alipore.
Political Firestorm Erupts
The issue quickly became politicised. Mishra was once the president of the college’s student branch of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), according to allegations that attribute his social media activities to the party.
The TMC has condemned the incident and severed links with Mishra, but the opposition parties, especially the BJP, are keeping the ruling party accountable. “The total breakdown of law and order in Bengal is reflected in these occurrences. Women are not secure. At RG Kar Medical College, a junior physician was raped and killed last year. This now. “The Chief Minister ought to step down,” Suvendu Adhikari, a BJP leader, stated.
In response to the criticism, Trinankur Bhattacharjee, the president of the TMC’s student branch, stated, “The strictest measures must be implemented.” Despite potential past connections to the party’s student branch, the accused had no significant position. “We must work together to combat this social threat,” TMC spokesperson Jay Prakash Majumdar continued. Those found guilty will receive the harshest punishment as the law will have its way.
Legal and Institutional Action
Azam Khan, Mishra’s attorney, has asserted that the accusations are politically driven. “My client is not guilty. Politics on campus are framing him,” he told reporters. The National Commission for Women (NCW), meantime, has acknowledged the event and has given Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma three days to provide a thorough report.
