'What can be done if a friend rapes friend?' TMC leader on Kolkata gangrape

TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee says if ex-students can re-enter campus and commit crimes, it suggests suspicious links and raises concerns over how such access was possible

Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee has triggered outrage with his remarks on the rape of a 24-year-old law student at South Calcutta Law College. While speaking to reporters, Banerjee responded with comments deemed “disgraceful” by the opposition BJP. "If a friend rapes a friend, how can you ensure security? If such an incident happens inside a college, do you expect police deployment for security in campus? Do you think educational institutes should have police presence?" he said.

 

He further said, "Irrespective of the ‘reclaim the night’ or day campaigns, security is same everywhere. Unless the male members of society correct their mindset, such incidents will continue to occur. You [journalists] have political agenda, so you are here with boom mics. Security is not an issue."

 

Terming the college administration as responsible for the incident, he said, "Security in campuses should be ensured by colleagues. But here it is colleagues raping colleagues. So, who bears the blame? Of course, the college administration must be held accountable. But the first fault lies with the perpetrators — fellow students who commit such heinous crimes. If former students are able to re-enter the campus and engage in unlawful activities, it points to some suspicious links.” 

 

  Banerjee's comments are reminiscent of remarks made by late Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2014 opposing capital punishment for rapists. At the time, Yadav had said, “Ladke, ladke hain… galti ho jati hai” (boys will be boys… they commit mistakes). He had further claimed that girls become friends with boys but press rape charges after the friendship sours. Two years before that, in 2012, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had made similar remarks, saying rape cases were increasing in the country because men and women had greater freedom to interact.

 

The survivor’s allegations and police action

 

The survivor, a first-year student, has alleged that she was gangraped inside a guard room adjacent to the student union office on campus. According to her police complaint, the accused — Monojit Mishra (31), a former student and practising lawyer, and two current students, Zaib Ahmed (19) and Pramit Mukhopadhyay (20) — lured her into the room and locked her inside, NDTV reported. Mishra is also a leading youth leader of the TMC and was regularly seen on campus even after graduation.   

 

  In her complaint, the woman said Mishra proposed to her but after she refused, he and two others forcibly took her to a guard room, undressed her and raped her. “I touched his feet, but he didn’t let me go,” she stated, according to NDTV.

 

She alleged they demanded loyalty to the Trinamool student wing, threatened her and her family, filmed the assault, and attempted to injure her with a hockey stick. According to The Indian Express, a medical exam confirmed her injuries. All three accused were arrested and remanded to four-day custody after being picked up from different locations in Kolkata.

 

Political fallout and BJP’s response

 

The case has quickly taken on political dimensions. The survivor identified Mishra as a former student leader with ties to the TMC’s student wing. Her complaint described him as an “unofficial head” of the student unit, someone others in the college listened to.

 

Photographs of Mishra with senior TMC leaders, including MP Abhishek Banerjee and Health Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, have surfaced, prompting BJP leaders to accuse the ruling party of shielding the accused. Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, demanded accountability and announced statewide protests. “This is a result of political protection for rapists,” he said.

 

(With agency inputs)