Kolkata:
The alleged gang rape of a law student from West Bengal’s Kolkata – months after the horrific RG Kar rape-murder case – has triggered a fresh and (furious) showdown between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the Assembly election next year.
Three men – including Manojit Mishra, a 31-year-old former student of the South Calcutta Law College -in Kolkata’s Kasba area – have been arrested and charged with rape. The other two men – Zaib Ahmed, 19, and Pramit Mukhopadhyay, 20, according to news agency ANI – are believed to be current students.
According to the police, mobile phones with videos of the rape – videos used to threaten and bully the 24-year-old survivor into staying silent about the attack – were seized from the accused.
A practicing lawyer, Mishra is the primary accused and the BJP – on the warpath with one eye firmly on the forthcoming election – has shared photographs showing him with senior leaders from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool, including her nephew and second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee.
The BJP has also raked up the RG Kar case to highlight the ‘sinking into lawlessness’.
BJP National Spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari and the party’s IT chief, Amit Malviya posted images that seem to show Mishra standing next to Trinamool leaders, including Abhishek Banerjee; Health Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya; and Councillor Kajari Banerjee, the Chief Minister’s sister-in-law.
Yet again Mamata Banerjee’s govt is found standing with the accused!
Accused no 1 Manojit Mishra is a TMC member!
Whether it is RG Kar Rape and Murder case where Mamta Banerjee tried to silence victims parents,
Or now when accused in Kasba gangrape case is found to be a TMC… pic.twitter.com/mYuAYjRgwh
— Pradeep Bhandari(प्रदीप भंडारी)🇮🇳 (@pradip103) June 27, 2025
“Yet again Mamata Banerjee’s government is found standing with the accused! Manojit Mishra is a TMC member. Whether it is the RG Kar rape and murder case, where Mamata Banerjee tried to silence the victim’s parents or now, when the accused is found to be a TMC member…” Bhandari said.
OUTRAGEOUS! Manojit Mishra, one of the prime accused in the brutal gang-rape of a college student in Kasba has direct links with the most powerful in the TMC:
➡️ MP Abhishek Banerjee
➡️ Councillor Kajari Banerjee (Mamata Banerjee’s sister-in-law)
➡️ State Minister Chandrima… pic.twitter.com/6cnN2iSao4— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 27, 2025
Bhandari and Malviya also alleged a cover-up, claiming the woman’s location was being hidden. “Why the silence? Who are they shielding? And where is the outrage from Mamata Banerjee or TMC…”
“The horror of RG Kar hasn’t faded… and yet such heinous crimes continue to rise daily in Bengal. Under Mamata Banerjee’s rule, Bengal has become a nightmare for women…” Malviya said.
The Trinamool has admitted Mishra has links to the party’s youth wing but also insisted that fact would not stop him from being punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Meanwhile, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim told reporters he would not comment without being briefed by the cops. “I have just heard… the matter is serious. I can speak only after getting details…”
The three accused have been sent to police custody for four days.
#WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal: The three accused of raping a law student in her college premises in the city, being taken to the court. pic.twitter.com/FnmiwPLjMW
— ANI (@ANI) June 27, 2025
In her complaint the young woman, undergoing a medical examination to confirm rape, she was assaulted late Wednesday, possibly between 7.30 pm and 8.50 pm, in a room on the college premises.
READ | “2 Watched As I Was Raped”: NDTV Accesses Kolkata Student’s FIR
The National Commission for Women has asked for a police report to be filed within 72 hours.
The RG Kar Rape, Murder
This comes 10 months after a rape and murder at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The RG Kar case, as that came to be called, made national headlines for its brutality; the woman’s body was found in a seminar room on the college premises and the autopsy concluded she had been raped and possibly tortured – there were injuries to her genitals, the left leg and right hand, and face.
The cause of death was strangulation.
READ | ‘Must Rise Above Eye For Eye’: Why No Death Penalty For RG Kar Convict
Sanjay Roy, a 33-year-old civic volunteer for Kolkata Police, was arrested and convicted for the rape and murder of the woman, and was sentenced to life in prison, a punishment seen by many as lenient.
Many, including the family, had demanded the death sentence.
With input from agencies
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