Kolkata Rape Case: Security Guard of the Law College Arrested, Medical Report of the Survivor Confirmed Assault

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, June 28: The Kolkata Police have arrested Pinaki Banerjee, the security guard who was on duty at the South Calcutta Law College on Wednesday evening when a 24-year old student was gang-raped allegedly by her seniors, even as the medical examination of the survivor has confirmed multiple signs of physical assault, the police said on Saturday.

The medical report mentions abrasion marks on the victim’s neck and chest. While no external genital or oral injuries were observed, doctors have not ruled out sexual assault pending forensic confirmation. “The evidence corroborated what the victim alleged in her complaint lodged with the Kasba Police Station. There is evidence of forceful penetration, bite marks and nail scratches on her body,” the officer said. There are external injuries near her private parts and inner thighs, besides marks of assaults on and around her neck.

To a question, the officer said the prime accused, an ex-student of the college and a practising criminal lawyer, raped her while the other two stood guard outside the room. “According to a Supreme Court judgement, all persons in a group involved in cases of gang rape must be held liable, even if all of them did not commit the act of rape. In this case, two other persons helped in the rape. So this is a case of gang rape, and they are also accused in the case,” Chief Police Prosecutor Sourin Ghosal said.

With the arrested of the 55-year old security guard, the number of arrests in connection with the case stands at four. An alumnus of the college and Trinamool Congress-linked Manojit Mishra, the principal accused in the case and two of his alleged accomplices, both students of the same college, were arrested earlier and are currently on police remand.

Banerjee is currently being interrogated by the police. According to the police, the guard’s responses during questioning were “incoherent and inconsistent.” CCTV footage captured him on the premises at the time of the incident. In the complaint lodged by the survivor at Kasba Police Station on Thursday, she had alleged that the security guard “was helpless and did not help” despite being present and watching the situation to unfold.

The medical examination on the survivor was conducted at 10 pm on June 26 at the National Medical College in Kolkata. Three swabs were collected during the procedure and sent for forensic testing. A urine pregnancy test conducted as part of the medical procedure returned negative.

The assault reportedly occurred in the guard’s room after he was allegedly forced to vacate the room by the accused. The room, along with the adjacent student union office, has been sealed by police as part of the ongoing investigation.  In her statement to the police, the survivor said she was targeted shortly after a meeting of the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), the student wing of the ruling party. According to her, three individuals cornered her at approximately 7:30 pm.

“I packed my things and went outside to escape and saw that they had locked the main gate, and the guard was helpless and did not help… He (the prime accused) instructed M and P (two other accused) to take me to the guard’s room and instructed the guard to sit outside. They did so,” the survivor’s police complaint read.

She recounted that two of the men locked her in a room with the third, who attempted to rape her. Despite pleading and resisting, she alleges that he forcibly undressed and raped her while the others stood guard. She said she was also threatened with harm to her boyfriend and family if she disclosed the assault.

“I kept saying, ‘I can’t do this. I have a boyfriend, I love him.’ But he wouldn’t listen. I touched his feet and begged him to let me go,” the survivor told police. She also reported having a panic attack during the ordeal, at which point the accused were said to have brought her an inhaler. She used the inhaler and briefly attempted to escape, but was caught again and taken into the guard’s room where the rape allegedly continued. According to her complaint, she was struck on the head with a hockey stick during the assault. She stated the accused released her around 10:50 pm, again warning her to remain silent.

The police suspect that the law college student was gang raped since she turned down the marriage proposal of the main accused making him angry, an officer said. Police were also trying to find out whether the entire crime was pre-planned or not, he said. “Going by the sequence of events, it appears that the victim had to face torture because of vengeance of the prime accused after she rejected his marriage proposal. This has been corroborated by the circumstantial evidence,” the officer said. “But whether it was a pre-planned crime or it happened suddenly needs to be proved,” the officer said.

“Every aspect is being probed. We are also going through call details of the three accused and that of the victim,” he said. At one point of time, she was unable to breathe properly and requested the accused to take him to a nearby private hospital. The plea fell on deaf ears and the torture continued.

The incident has escalated into a major political controversy. The opposition BJP has accused the ruling TMC of shielding the main accused, Manojit Mishra, pointing to his past leadership role within the college’s TMCP unit. Photographs circulated on social media appear to show Mishra alongside senior TMC leaders, including Lok Sabha MP and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who is also the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The TMC has admitted that Mishra had previous affiliations with its student wing but distanced itself from him in light of the allegations.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) wrote to the Kolkata Police chief on Friday (June 27, 2025), expressing concern over Law College gang rape and asked the officials to conduct an immediate and time-bound probe into the matter. The women’s rights panel has taken suo motu cognisance of the South Kolkata incident.

“NCW Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar has written to the Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, expressing deep concern and directing immediate, time-bound investigation under relevant provisions of BNS. “She has also stressed the need to extend full medical, psychological, and legal assistance to the victim, along with compensation under Section 396 of BNSS,” the panel said in a statement.

Protests erupted across Kolkata on Saturday after the prime accused Monojit Mishra, was identified as a Trinamool Congress student leader. Left-backed student groups laid siege to the Kasba Police Station where the case was registered.

Opposition parties have also slammed the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government, alleging a nexus between ruling party leaders and criminal elements. In response, the Trinamool leaders have gone into damage-control mode.

Shashi Panja, Minister of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, said the Opposition efforts to politicise the unfortunate issue was pathetic. “All three accused are behind bars within 12 hours of the complaint. We are with the survivor. We passed the Aparajita Bill 10 months ago unanimously in the Legislative Assembly, but the Bill is not being passed by the BJP. If you support this cause, then support the Bill and get it passed by the President,” Ms Panja said.

The Aparajita Bill was passed in 2024 after the R.G. Kar incident. It enhances punishments for rape and sexual assault, particularly against women and children, including death penalty for extreme cases. Trinankur Bhattacharya, State president of the Trinamool student wing, said they were not denying their past association with the accused but that did not define the party and its stand. “He was a member in 2019. Forgive us, but we do not know so much astrology that we could predict he would commit such a crime in 2025,” Mr Bhattacharya added.

Student and youth wings of Left parties, including the All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) affiliated with the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI), and Students’ Federation of India (SFI) staged a protest outside the law college. The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), and the student and youth wings of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) laid siege at the Kasba police station. Many of the protestors were also injured in the clashes.

Protests were also held by BJP and Congress supporters. Many of the protesters clashed with the police and were detained across the city. A huge contingent of police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel were also present on site.

The incident brought back memories of the R.G. Kar rape and murder that shook the State and the nation 10 months ago in August 2024. The brutal incident raised many questions about women’s safety in educational institutes and workspaces. A civic police volunteer of the Kolkata Police was the prime accused in the case.