Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 1: The governing body of the South Calcutta Law College on Tuesday terminated the services of the prime accused and expelled two students of the college, the co-accused in the alleged gang rape of a 24-year old first year student inside the college premises on June 25, an official said.
The appointment of prime accused Monojit Mishra, who was serving as a casual employee of the college on a previous recommendation of its governing body, was cancelled in the wake of his arrest in connection with the crime. His co-accused Zaib Ahmed and Pramit Mukherjee, both students of the college, were also arrested and remanded in police custody.
Following a meeting of the college’s governing body chaired by Trinamool Congress MLA Ashok Kumar Deb, the authorities announced the termination of Mishra’s services and the expulsion of the two students. “It has been decided to terminate the services of Mishra, while the two other students will be expelled with immediate effect. The college will maintain no connection with the accused. The security agency, assigned with the security of the college premises, will also be show-caused,” Mr Deb told reporters.
The college authorities have also decided to apply for the cancellation of the bar council membership of Mishra who is a practising criminal lawyer at the Alipore Police and Sessions Court, as stated in his social media profiles. “We will leave no stone unturned to bring back a healthy academic atmosphere in the college as early as possible,” Deb said.
He confirmed that the campus will continue to remain closed for the time being, although there will be no disruption in the forthcoming exam schedule of students. “The administrative office of the college will remain open and students can come to fill up their exam forms,” the governing body chairman said.
The governing body also extended financial assistance to the victim for meeting the expenses of her medical treatment should she and her family agree to accept it. “We will tighten CCTV coverage inside the college and will replace the existing security agency with a new one,” Haripada Banik, a teaching representative at the governing body, said.
“We have also decided to deploy female security guards at the campus,” he added. The actions from the college administration came amid the growing public outrage over the alleged incident and have led to strong demands for accountability and reform in campus safety protocols.
According to the vice-principal of the college, Nayna Chatterji, Mishra was appointed on a contractual basis for a renewable term of 45 days based on an earlier resolution passed by the governing body. “We have not only expelled the accused, but want the highest punishment for the perpetrators,” Chatterji said on Tuesday.
College records indicate that Mishra was previously a student of the institute and was admitted in 2013. That year, he was rusticated from the institution after being charged with stabbing a youth on Chetla Bridge under the jurisdiction of Kalighat police station. Mishra vanished from police radar at that time before resurfacing in 2017 when he took readmission to the college from where he passed out in 2022.
Some college students point out that Monojit ‘Mango’ Mishra was a “terror” on the campus. Many female students of the college considered skipping classes to stay out of his way. A former student of the college said all students “feared” Mishra. “There was an atmosphere of intimidation on the campus. He used to click photos of female students, morph them and circulate them on WhatsApp groups. He also sexually harassed them. There was so much intimidation that students were scared to attend classes,” she said.
“There have been several complaints about him throughout Kolkata. In 2019, he sexually harassed a woman in college, tore off her clothes. In 2024, he beat up a security guard and vandalised college property. He was also involved in some kind of theft. There have been several FIRs filed against him, but nobody took any action because of his political influence. He was so politically safeguarded by the Trinamool Congress that nobody dared to touch him,” she said.
“I don’t think there is any girl (in college) who wasn’t harassed by him (Monojit). There were many complaints. Even his parents disowned him,” she said. Monojit’s father is a priest in the Kalighat temple and his mother suffers from neurological issues.
The Trinamool has now distanced itself from Monojit, but students say he claimed proximity to the party’s top leaders and everyone on campus, including teachers, feared him. The Opposition has alleged that it is with the ruling party’s backing that anti-social elements like Monojit commit crimes and get away with them.
Meanwhile, a fresh controversy erupted on Tuesday after TMC minister Manas Bhuiyan reportedly described the alleged rape of the law student as a “small incident.” Speaking at a Doctor’s Day blood donation camp, Bhuiyan said, “No culprit of the Pahalgam incident has been arrested. Whenever a small incident happens in Bengal, controversy starts.” He was referring to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 men, mostly tourists, were gunned down by terrorists.
As the TMC leader’s remarks went viral, Bhuiyan in a statement said that his words were taken out of context and that he “strongly condemned” the law college rape incident. Seizing on his “small incident remark”, state BJP president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said, “One after another, TMC leaders are making such statements. It speaks volumes about their character.”
BJP’s Jagannath Chattopadhyay called it “a matter of shame,” while CPI(M) leader Shatarup Ghosh accused the TMC of shielding its workers, pointing out that the main suspects in the campus rape belong to the party’s student wing. The TMC, however, defended Bhuiyan, saying his comment was unrelated to the law college case and aimed at broader law-and-order debates.
“Bhuiyan’s comments have been twisted and linked to the rape incident,” a TMC spokesperson said. Clarifying his remark, Bhuiyan said, “Our party and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee do not tolerate such crimes. I oppose and condemn the Kasba (rape) incident in the strongest terms. I would like to clarify that my previous comments were not related to the Kasba incident. They have been misrepresented and linked to the unfortunate incident in an attempt to malign and defame me. I reiterate – I strongly condemn this incident.”
